


A Way to Fly

by Q_loves_you



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefly Verse, Emotional Child Abuse?, Firefly AU, I'm not totally sure if that's the right term, Injury, Multi, Swearing, i'll tag things as they come up, ratings and warnings may change depending on where this goes and stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-04-24 21:16:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4935664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Q_loves_you/pseuds/Q_loves_you
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shouyou Hinata has always dreamed of being the best pilot in the 'verse. In order to achieve his dream, he joins the crew of Karasuno on their journey. Faced with jobs that never seem to go smoothly, dangerous outlaws (including themselves), ghosts from the past, grumpy mechanics, and every manner of trouble, the crew must always find a way to keep together and keep flying.</p><p>Featuring all the cameos, fluff, angst, and general awesomeness I could fit into one fic.</p><p>I know it's been ages since an update, but I will come back! I've run into some serious writer's block and life problems, but I don't plan on leaving this!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

“Natsu, look! The stars are out tonight! See that one there? The greenish one? That’s actually another planet!”

“Really?”

“Uh-huh! There’s people living there, and hundreds of ships coming and going all the time! It’s called Persephone.”

“Wow!”

“Yeah….

“One day, I’m gonna go there. I’m gonna find a ship and fly out into the open sky and see everything! And I’ll be the best pilot on any ship in the ‘verse and no one’ll ever catch me ever!”

“You’re gonna leave?”

“Not for a long time, Natsu. And I promise I’ll come back and visit. And when you’re older, you can come too! What do you think? You and me, sailing through the stars!”

“Yeah!”

***

So. Many. Ships!

Shouyou stopped in his tracks and stared at them. He could see fifteen ships on this row alone, big and little, bustling with activity. He was jostled and pushed through the crowd until he found an empty space in between ships to readjust his grip on his bag and take his bearings. There were a lot of ships. He wasn’t entirely sure how he was supposed to choose one to take him to Persephone. Perhaps there was someone he should ask? He looked around, but everyone seemed to be going somewhere or selling something, so it didn’t seem likely.

“Are you lost?”

Shouyou squeaked (dammit he was eighteen, he was supposed to grow out of that) and turned around to see a huge bearded man standing behind him. He tried to stutter out a reply, but he couldn’t think clearly through fear.

“Oh, sorry!” The man’s demeanor changed abruptly, and he no longer looked scary at all. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to help. Are you lost?”

Shouyou smiled, bouncing back easily from his moment of terror. “Not exactly. I just don’t know what ship to take! It’s my first time leaving home! I want to go to flight school, and since there isn’t one here, I’m going to Persephone! Do you know any ships going to Persephone? I’m Shouyou, by the way. Shouyou Hinata. Who are you?”

“Ah…Asahi Azumane. And actually, I’m a pilot. This ship here…” He pointed to the large, black ship on Shouyou’s right. “…Is _Karasuno_. We’re not going to Persephone right away, but we do go there often.”

Shouyou stared, awestruck. “You’re a pilot? That’s amazing! Where did you learn? Was it hard? I’ve studied the theory, and I’ve practiced with some smaller hovercraft, but I don’t know any real pilots! Can you teach me?” He gasped. “Are you taking passengers? I saved up a lot, and I can do work too! If I take your ship to Persephone whenever you go there, will you teach me in the meantime? Oh, but you probably have a lot to do. I don’t want to be a burden.”

“No, no, not at all!” Asahi said quickly. “Um…we do take passengers sometimes. I’m not sure if we’re taking any this time though. I’ll ask the captain.”

“Really!? That’s great! I’ll, uh, wait outside! Your ship is really big! Is that another ship on top of it? Do you have your own room? What kind of engine is it? What’s the – wait I’m asking too many questions at once again. Mom says I do that. Sorry.”

Asahi smiled at him. “It’s fine. But I think I see the captain. You wait here.”

Shouyou stood near the ramp up to the cargo bay and stared at the ship, eyes shining. To think the first person he met would be so nice and offer to take him on the ship!

“Oi, what are you doing here?”

Shouyou jumped and spun around. A tallish, dark haired young man of about his age was standing there, glowering at him.

“Oh! Hi! Um. Asahi said I should wait here. He’s going to ask the captain if you’re taking passengers.”

“We’re not.”

Shouyou frowned. “But he said he’d ask.”

“We’re not taking passengers.”

“How do you know? Who are you?”

“I’m the mechanic. Captain didn’t say anything about passengers.”

“But he didn’t say you weren’t taking any,” Shouyou said stubbornly, “And if he didn’t tell the pilot, he wouldn’t tell the mechanic.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, the pilot would have to know, wouldn’t he?” Shouyou said, “Cause he’s gotta know where to go and stuff.”

“The mechanic has to know too! The mechanic is essential to keeping the ship running smoothly!”

“Well, duh. But it doesn’t matter if you have passengers or not does it?”

“I…shut up. We’re not taking passengers this time.”

“Kageyama, stop scaring away passengers,” said a voice from behind Shouyou. Asahi was back, accompanied by three more men. The one who had spoken was clearly the captain. He was fairly tall and well-built with short brown hair and an indefinably commanding air about him. To his right was a scowling bald guy who could only be a few years older than Shouyou and was obviously doing his best to look intimidating. It was working.

“Ryuu, you too,” said the third man, who had grey hair and looked much less intimidating than anyone else Shouyou had met here. The bald guy stopped scowling, but he didn’t smile either.

“You’re Shouyou Hinata?” the captain asked. Shouyou nodded. “I’m Captain Daichi Sawamura. This is Koushi Sugawara and Ryuunosuke Tanaka. Suga’s second in command. Asahi tells me you want to go to flight school on Persephone.”

Shouyou nodded again, struggling to find his voice.

“Well, we’re not scheduled to touch down at Persephone any time soon, but fare’s pretty cheap, and I’m sure Asahi would be happy to give you some lessons in the meantime.” He smiled.

“Daichi, don’t be mean to Asahi,” Sugawara said sternly, “He can decide if he wants to give lessons.”

“I’m always mean to Asahi.”

“I don’t mind giving lessons,” Asahi said nervously.

Shouyou looked from one to the other, a bright smile spreading over his face. “So you’ll take me? Really?”

The captain shrugged. “We do seem to end up taking absolutely everyone, so why not?” He shot a look at Sugawara as he said it. Sugawara grinned angelically.

“Tobio is doing a great job,” he said, “And Yuu has been very helpful, and you know it. Everyone on this ship contributes to our smooth operation.”

“Yeah, yeah. Well, Shouyou, do you have any other luggage?”

“Nope!” Shouyou hitched his duffle bag a little higher on his shoulder.

“Alright. Suga will show you to your room and work out payment. Tanaka, Asahi, let’s get this stuff loaded. Kageyama…whatever you were doing.”

Shouyou followed Sugawara onto the ship, through the cargo bay and up the stairs, gazing around open-mouthed. “It’s so big!”

Sugawara chuckled. “I take it you’ve never been on a ship before?”

“Nope. Not enough money or enough ships.”

“Then how come you want to be a pilot?”

“I just do. I want to sail through space and outrun other ships and just…fly. I can’t explain it right.”

“Well, it sounds like you have the passion for it anyway. Ah, here we are.”

“Woooooaaaaah.”

“It’s pretty standard. Bathroom’s just down the hall. I’ll take you upstairs to the common area once you’re settled in.”

“Not much to settle,” Shouyou shrugged, dumping his bag on the bed. “Oh, but the captain said I should pay you. Mostly I’ve been saving up for school, but I can do work too if it’s not enough.”

***

“How’d it go?” Asahi asked as he, Tanaka, and Daichi loaded up the cargo.

“No problems,” Daichi said.

“This one’s legal, right?”

“Yeah. Completely legitimate transport of foodstuffs. Flour actually. Main export on this rock and not paying nearly what it should.”

“You’d think it’d be worth a bit more considering how expensive it is on the border planets,” Tanaka grumbled.

“It’s enough to keep us going for now,” Daichi said, “This plus shuttle rent plus whatever Shouyou can pay will keep us flying until Ukai finds us another job.”

“Any word from him or Takeda?”

“Not yet. But they said they’d check in soon. And speaking of shuttle rent, what’s their ETA?”

Asahi checked his watch. “About fifteen minutes. They should contact us soon. I’ll get upstairs.”

“Ok.”

“Amazing they could find anyone on this moon to do business with,” Tanaka said as Asahi left.

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Daichi said, “They’re clever like that.”

***

Shouyou had never been so excited in his life. He was on a ship. Sugawara led him up to the common area.

“Yuu, what did Daichi say about weapons projects in the dining room?” Sugawara sighed. Shouyou stared. Two long tables set end to end were spread with bits of machinery. A young man was kneeling on top of the table, fiddling with a larger chunk of what looked like some kind of cannon. He looked up as they walked in.

“This one won’t explode, Suga! Hey, who’s this?” He jumped down from the table.

“Wow, you’re even shorter than I am!” Shouyou said without thinking.

Yuu bristled. “What did you just say?”

“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean anything by it! I’ve just never met anyone shorter than me!”

“Hmph. Well, what are you doing here?”

“Yuu, this is Shouyou Hinata,” Sugawara said, “He wants to be a pilot, and he’s riding with us until we land on Persephone again so he can go to flight school.”

“Flight school, huh? Well, you’re on a ship with the best pilot ever, you know.”

“Really?”

“Asahi’s amazing,” Noya said, nodding, “Total push-over, but a great pilot.”

“Wow!”

“I’m Yuu Nishinoya, by the way. Mostly people call me Noya, ‘cept sometimes Suga calls me Yuu, and when Daichi’s mad he-”

“NISHINOYA!”

“And that’s my cue.” With surprising speed, Noya gathered up most of the mess on the table and darted out of the room.

Shouyou watched him leave. “Why is the captain angry with him?”

“Who knows? He probably left some project or other in the way again.”

“What’s his job on the ship?”

“Oh, he’s…he’s Noya. He’s backup for pretty much everything. Even a decent backup pilot when necessary.”

“Cool!”

Asahi’s voice echoed over the ship’s intercom. “Attention everyone, we will be taking off in a minute’s time.”

“Hey, Shouyou, you want a good view of take-off?” Sugawara asked, probably anticipating Shouyou’s answer.

“Ooh, yeah!”

“Follow me.”

Sugawara led him down to the end of the hall where two steps up led to the bridge. Asahi was sitting in the pilot’s seat, fiddling with the console.

“Woooooaaaaah! This is amazing!” Shouyou jumped down into the cockpit for a better view of the docks below. “Wow!”

“Take-off in three…two…one.”

There was a distant sound of engines whirring, and the ship rose. Shouyou watched as the land fell away beneath them and the clouds came closer and closer. He was really going.


	2. Karasuno

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the crew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try doing approximately weekly updates, but don't be surprised if they're late.

Shouyou could have spent several hours or maybe even days staring out the window at the open space and stars before them, but as Sugawara reminded him, he had unpacking to do, and there would be plenty of time to watch later.

There wasn’t much unpacking, really. Shouyou had the basics, two changes of clothes, some pyjamas, a sweater his mom had insisted he take, and a book on flying with a picture of Natsu he was using as a bookmark. His family wasn’t exactly rich. They generally had enough to eat and cover basic necessities, but there wasn’t much left over. Shouyou had never particularly minded. But saving up for flight school had been tough.

The bathroom was indeed just down the hall. He left it and on his way upstairs found himself face to face with a very tall, bored looking, blond man.

“Um, hi!” he said.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Shouyou Hinata. I, uh, I’m a passenger. A-”

“Oh. Of course. Sugawara’s latest stray.”

Shouyou frowned. “I’m not a stray. And Asahi was the one who-”

“Please. Everyone on this ship is one of Sugawara’s strays. Even the captain.”

“Including you?” Shouyou asked, perhaps a bit aggressively, but this guy was being rude.

“I don’t think I count.”

“Why-”

“Tsukki! I – oh, hi, who are you?”

Shouyou stared. In front of him was a person in the most beautiful dress he had ever seen. It was long and dark green with gold embroidery and jewelry. The person themself was good-looking enough, but Shouyou had seen good-looking people. He had never seen finery like this.

“Tadashi, this is Shouyou Hinata. Asahi mentioned him.” Shouyou had no idea how this guy could make a simple introduction sound that irritating, but he managed it. Probably on purpose.

“Oh, of course! Nice to meet you. I’m Tadashi Yamaguchi, and this is Kei Tsukishima. I rent one of the shuttles. Actually, Tsukki, I needed your help with this dress. The fastening’s stuck. See you, Shouyou!”

“I still don’t understand why you bother with the dresses. They just get in the way.” The two of them left, talking quietly. Shouyou watched them go for a moment, and then remembered that dinner would be starting soon and hurried upstairs.

He entered the dining room and found Sugawara, Captain Sawamura, Tanaka, Noya, and three people he hadn’t met yet.

“Hello,” said the closest of the three. He had dark hair and a kind, tired looking face. “You must be Shouyou. I’m Chikara. This is Hisashi and Kazuhito. We live in the ship on top of this one. We’re semi-permanently docked. You probably saw it when you got on.”

“I did!” Shouyou said, sitting down in an empty chair across from Kazuhito, “How come you guys live there?”

“You might have noticed it’s pretty crowded down here,” said Hisashi, “Our ship makes for good backup and stealth, plus letting the captain have us in two places at once. And we get a bit of space away from these nutjobs.”

“Are you calling your captain a nutjob, Hisashi?” said Daichi.

Hisashi shrugged. “As far as I can tell, Kazuhito and I are the only normal ones on this boat.”

“Hey, hey! What about Kiyoko?” Tanaka said loudly.

“Ok, Kiyoko too,” Hisashi conceded.

“Who’s Kiyoko?” Shouyou asked.

Noya and Tanaka both opened their mouths, looking starry-eyed, but Daichi interrupted them. “She’s our medic. Should be here soon, actually. Chikara, could you go make sure Kageyama hasn’t forgotten about dinner again?”

“Sure.” Chikara got up and left through the door opposite the one Shouyou had come in, presumably to the engine room.

“And any one of you would be more than welcome to help in here,” Sugawara said from the kitchen. “Not you, Noya.”

Noya sat back down, and Kazuhito got up to help. Asahi came in and sat down next to Shouyou.

“Course is set,” he told Daichi, “Should be about two days to Boros.”

“Any idea if Kei and Tadashi are joining us?” Sugawara asked.

Asahi shrugged. “They didn’t say.”

“I met them just now,” Shouyou said, “Who are they?”

“Tadashi rents one of the shuttles,” Noya said, “He’s a Companion.”

“A Companion?” Shouyou gaped. “But I thought Companions were girls, and lived on the core planets! He’s a real companion?”

Tanaka laughed. “Sure is. Got papers and everything. And sometimes he is a girl. But there’re boy Companions too. Not as many as girls, but some. Tadashi travels with us ‘cause there’s not as many clients for him on the core planets.”

“Ooooh. And what about Tsukishima? What’s he besides rude?”

Everyone laughed, and Hisashi answered. “He’s Tadashi’s…agent?”

“Agent, bodyguard, friend.” Noya shrugged. “ _I_ think he might be a…coworker sometimes too, but they never say. Mostly he’s just tall and rude.”

Chikara returned, trailed by Kageyama, who was once again scowling. _Speaking of tall and rude_ , Shouyou thought.

“Tobio, wash your hands if there’s engine grease all over them,” Sugawara said, and Kageyama did so.

“Kiyoko, you look lovely today, as ever!” Tanaka said loudly as a beautiful, dark haired woman entered the room. She ignored him and sat down on the other side of Asahi. Tanaka didn’t seem especially bothered.

“You must be Shouyou,” Kiyoko said, leaning forward slightly to address him. “I’m Dr. Kiyoko Shimizu. Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.”

Shouyou nodded, unable to speak faced with so much beauty.

Sugawara and Kazuhito brought the food to the table. It was pretty standard space fare, and Shouyou suddenly realized that his mother’s home-cooked meals were amazing. And he wasn’t going to have one for a long time.

“So, Shouyou, tell us about yourself,” Sugawara said once they were all served and settled.

Shouyou thought for a moment. “Well, I grew up on Avalon, haven’t been off world my whole life ‘til now. My parents are farm workers like most people there. I helped out to save up money when I could.”

“How old are you?” Daichi asked.

“Eighteen.”

“Oh, good.” He shot a look at Noya as he said it.

“What’s Avalon like?” Sugawara asked, smoothly diverting attention from that potential conversation, “We’ve only visited a couple times before, and never for very long.”

“Oh, it’s…it’s small? Lots of farming, not a lot else.”

“No flight school,” Asahi said.

“Yeah. Not much of any kind of school actually. At least not in the part I’m from. Mom taught me and my sister best she could, but she had work too, so…” He shrugged.

“Your sister?” Tanaka prompted.

Shouyou nodded. “My little sister, Natsu. She’s nine and super sweet. I’m gonna miss her a lot.”

Sugawara nodded sympathetically. “I have a big family back on Salisbury. We visit sometimes, but it’s tough. Still, the kind of stuff we get to see and do out here is worth it.”

There was a general murmur of agreement.

“What kind of stuff?” Shouyou asked curiously.

Dinner continued amicably with tales of adventure and hilarity from most of the crew. Shouyou threw in a few anecdotes about life on Avalon. The captain, Sugawara, Asahi, and Kiyoko had grown up together on Salisbury which was slightly bigger and more advanced than Avalon, but only slightly. Tanaka was from Constance, a very small border moon, but he had been traveling for a few years before he met _Karasuno_ , so he had some good stories too. It was nice, and other than Kageyama’s occasional unsettling glares, Shouyou felt almost instantly at home.

***

“Shouyou seems nice,” Tadashi said as he buttoned up his shirt and Tsukki gathered up the dress for cleaning.

“He seems annoying.”

“You think everyone seems annoying,” Tadashi said reasonably, “I think he seems nice. A little loud maybe, energetic. It’ll be interesting to have passengers again. I thought the captain was against it.”

“He is. Passengers are a nuisance, and with Sugawara around, he’ll end up on the crew by next month.”

Tadashi shrugged and turned around to face Tsukki again, shirt buttoned and tucked in. “That wouldn’t be so bad.”

“The new mechanic’s bad enough. Why do we need three pilots?”

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out.” He frowned slightly at the dress in Tsukki’s arms. “You know, you don’t actually have to do my laundry for me. I didn’t hire you as a maid.”

“I’m your assistant.”

“You’re my friend first.”

“Friends help, don’t they? Here I am, helping. If you’re embarrassed or something…”

“Of course I’m not embarrassed,” Tadashi said, though his cheeks did grow warm at the suggestion, “And you’ve helped me plenty,” he added seriously. Maybe he just deepened the conversation to get Tsukki to agree and to stop himself blushing. Maybe.

Tsukki stiffened slightly. “I told you not to worry about it. Any halfway-decent person would have done the same.”

“What about following me out here and leaving everything you loved behind?”

Tsukki frowned harder. “There wasn’t much for me there, and I was hardly going to let you go alone.”

“Well, I’m grateful.” So, so grateful. “But you still don’t have to do my laundry.”

***

Suga found Daichi sitting on the walkway over the cargo bay after dinner. He sat down next to him and leaned on a lower bar of the railing.

“It’s an awful lot of flour,” he said, “But I can’t say it looks like much from up here.”

“Looks like our next bit of profit,” Daichi said, and Suga nodded an acknowledgement.

“But you didn’t come here just to watch over it, did you?”

Daichi shrugged. “Good place to think.”

“Anything in particular you’re thinking about?”

“…Ship’s getting awfully crowded, Suga.”

Suga bit back a sigh. They’d had this conversation a couple times, and it never went anywhere.

“It’s not so bad though, is it?”

“No,” Daichi conceded, “But…it’s a lot of mouths to feed. And a lot of crew to pay.”

“Kei, Tadashi, and Shouyou are all paying us,” Suga pointed out.

“You know Shouyou can’t pay what we’d need him to and have enough left for flight school.”

Suga looked back down at the cargo bay. “I know.”

“You and your strays,” Daichi said, shaking his head.

“You’re the one who invited Shouyou. I had nothing to do with it.”

“You gave me the look.”

“I don’t have a look.”

“Yes, you do.”

Suga laughed. “Okay, I do. But I didn’t think I’d used it this time.”

“Well you did,” Daichi said, uncharacteristically annoyed, “And now we have another passenger on this ship, who by the way, doesn’t know about our less legal jobs yet. What happens if the next job we get is smuggling or stealing? Do we just go for it and hope he doesn’t notice?”

“Of course not. Shouyou grew up on Avalon, which isn’t exactly known for its strong Alliance leanings. Plus, look at him. He won’t even care except to be a bit nervous. He’s not going to turn us in for smuggling.”

Daichi sighed. “Okay. But then there’s the question of if he’s actually going to get off when we go to Persephone.” He looked at Suga. “Is he?”

“That’s the plan,” Suga said.

“Right. Good plan. Remind me what the plan was with Noya?”

“That’s completely different,” Suga protested.

“Sure, sure. And Kageyama?”

“Tobio doesn’t have anywhere else to go. That was never the plan.”

“Chikara, Hisashi, Kazuhito?”

“They’re not…on the ship. All the time. Besides, we’ve got two empty crew quarters.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You wouldn’t change any of it, Daichi.”

“…No. I wouldn’t. But this is the last one!”


	3. Insult and Injury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which they run into trouble, and everyone is awkward and/or sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, now that we've established things, I can really get into a story! Maybe even a plot!! Oh boy!

Boros was the fanciest planet Shouyou had ever seen, and he wasted no time in telling them all this. Loudly and frequently and with many sound effects. Noya was amused, and Kageyama, predictably enough, was annoyed. But luckily Hinata and Kageyama were staying behind with Asahi and Kiyoko. Chikara, Hisashi, and Kazuhito were going to resupply. Tadashi had managed to get some clients. Noya was with Daichi, Suga, and Ryuu, waiting for Daichi and Suga to finish haggling over the price of flour.

It was a perfectly legitimate job in a supposedly secure location. Perhaps that was why the thieves took them by surprise. One minute they were almost agreed on a price. The next, they were surrounded by four gunmen. Daichi and Ryuu both had their guns drawn in an instant, but lowered them in the face of superior numbers.

“What’s in the crates?”one of them asked.

“Flour,” Daichi said, deadpan. The thieves looked slightly embarrassed, but they recovered quickly.

“Well, that should make a nice profit anyway, sell it on one of the border planets for more’n it’s worth.”

Noya rolled his eyes. These guys were clearly idiots. Two of the men moved to inspect the crates, and with a quick look at Daichi, Karasuno’s crew sprang into action. The two who hadn’t been distracted were downed by Daichi and Ryuu first. Noya and Suga took down the other two. Suga shot one in the leg. Noya was too close for guns, so he simply jumped up and punched the guy repeatedly in the face. It worked.

“Well, that was unpleasant,” Suga said. Daichi cried out, a shot rang through the air, and Noya shoved Suga to the ground. A second shot and an angry yell came from Ryuu, and the would-be-thief who had shot from the ground fell back, clutching his hand. At the same time, Noya became aware of a searing pain near his right shoulder. He groaned and tried to push himself up, only to fall flat on his face.

“Yuu!”

“NOYA!”

Someone rolled him onto his back, and he was staring up at Suga’s anxious face. Daichi and Ryuu were yelling somewhere nearby, but Noya couldn’t make out the words. Everything was a bit hazy and painful.

“Yuu, Yuu listen. You have to focus, okay?” Suga’s voice broke through.

“Suga, it really hurts,” he said. Because holy fuck did it ever.

“I know. Kiyoko’s going to patch you up, okay? But you’ve gotta stay with me ‘til then, got it?”

“Yeah, Suga.”

“Good. That’s good.”

“Suga, I don’t wanna die over flour.”

“Hush,” Suga scolded him, “You’re not going to die.” He didn’t say ‘probably’ but Noya could hear it in his voice.

“It’s fucking flour,” Noya said, because thinking about that was better than thinking about the sticky wetness spreading out from his shoulder. “Can’t believe they were gonna kill you over flour.”

“Well…” Suga said, “I guess we’re just lucky to have you, huh? Our own guardian angel. You keep getting shot for us, we might have to make it your official title.”

“That’s a dumb title,” Noya mumbled, “I’m not an angel.”

“Best not keep getting shot for us then,” Suga said.

“Noya, we’re moving you onto a stretcher ok?” It was Daichi. Noya nodded. Or he was pretty sure he nodded anyway. Things were getting fuzzier. Somewhere between them lifting him and him hitting the stretcher, he passed out.

***

Suga didn’t want to look down at Yuu on the stretcher between him and Ryuu. He kept walking, eyes resolutely forward, trying simultaneously to listen and comfort Ryuu’s cries and to block them out entirely so he wouldn’t have to think about it. Yuu would be fine. Kiyoko knew what she was doing, and Yuu would be fine. They were almost there.

Daichi had stayed behind to take care of the thieves and sort things out with the law enforcement and their buyer. He hadn’t wanted to, of course, hadn’t wanted to leave Yuu’s side, but they all had to do their jobs, and there was nothing he could do for Yuu right now.

Suga glanced down, and immediately wished he hadn’t. It was hard to tell exactly how bad it was, but it seemed like the bullet was too close to the shoulder to have hit any major organs. Like lungs. Yuu needed his lungs. He would be fine though. Kiyoko would fix him.

***

When Noya woke up, the pain in his shoulder was reduced to a dull ache, and it was neatly wrapped in bandages. There was some rustling nearby and he turned. Kiyoko had her back to him, fiddling with some medical stuff on the counter.

“Welcome back,” she said without turning around. “Everyone’s been worried.” She pressed a button on the intercom and said, “He’s awake.”

“Sorry to worry them,” Noya said, “But Suga’s not dead, so, y’know, not that sorry.” He was feeling a bit drowsy, but he was still coherent enough for this.

Kiyoko made a small noise of acknowledgement, checked a few machines, gave him a quick once-over to make sure he was alright, and turned back to what she was doing. Noya supposed that meant he would be okay.

“Hey, Noya. How are you feeling?” Asahi and Suga entered the room.

“Been better,” Noya said, grinning, “But definitely been worse.”

“I suppose that was meant to be comforting,” Suga said, “You really shouldn’t make a habit of this, you know.”

“What, saving your life?”

“The life-saving’s great,” Suga said, “But the getting yourself shot in the process could go.”

Asahi nodded.

“I’ll work on it,” Noya said.

“And I’ll work on making sure I actually take down the guy I’m taking down,” Suga said sheepishly, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken my eyes off him so quickly.”

“You shot him in the leg, and all his friends were down!” Noya protested, “Why would you expect him to try anything at that point?”

“It was sloppy,” Suga said, “And it got you hurt.”

“Suga,” Asahi said, “You can’t blame yourself for everything that goes wrong. At least you were there. I should have been with you, not hiding away on the ship.”

“Not you too,” Noya said exasperatedly, “It’s neither of your faults. Asahi, we needed you here to look after things and teach Shouyou. You couldn’t have known there would be trouble. There shouldn't have been trouble. And Suga, you can’t predict every crazy guy who’s gonna try and shoot someone he’s already lost to.”

Suga and Asahi looked at each other and then back at Noya. “…Well…can’t argue with any particular point,” Suga said finally.

“Of course not. I’m right,” Noya said cheerfully, “Just tell me we got paid.”

“We did,” Suga said, “And our buyer’s taking care of most of the legal stuff. We may have to stay a little longer than planned, but there’s no rush.”

“Cool. Ryuu okay? He sounded pretty torn up about all this, from what I remember.”

“He’ll be along any second now,” Asahi said, “Probably just in the middle of something.”

“Ok. So, how bad was it?” he asked, mostly to Kiyoko.

She frowned at his flippant attitude. “Bad enough. But you were lucky. You were hit just in the right place to avoid any major organs. Just between your ribcage and clavicle. With proper care and rest, you should be fine in a few weeks. I’ll clear you for light duties once I’m sure you’re not going to re-open your wound. And you’ve lost a higher percentage of blood than most would with a wound like that. So don’t try walking around until I say so.”

“Great.”

***

Shouyou ran to the infirmary once he was told that Noya was awake. It had been terrifying to see him brought in on a stretcher, unconscious with blood everywhere. Shouyou had only been on _Karasuno_ for two days, but most of the crew was already starting to feel like family. Daichi and Tanaka were there when he arrived, though Daichi had to leave soon after. Shouyou and Tanaka stayed until Kiyoko kicked them out to give Noya rest.

Shouyou almost bumped into Kageyama, who was lurking in the hallway outside the infirmary.

“Watch where you’re going, stupid,” Kageyama muttered, though with considerably less feeling than usual.

“What are you doing down here?” Shouyou asked.

“Why shouldn’t I be down here?”

“Don’t you live in the engine room?”

Kageyama scowled. “This whole ship needs mechanical work done. …I came to see Noya.”

Shouyou suddenly felt very stupid. “Oh. Well, Kiyoko just kicked us out. He’s supposed to be getting rest.”

“Fine.” Kageyama brushed past Shouyou and headed into the infirmary anyway. Shouyou waited, hoping to hear Kageyama getting kicked out, but it didn’t happen. Frowning, he headed upstairs to help with dinner.

***

“Tobio,” Kiyoko said when he entered the infirmary, “are you alright?”

Tobio nodded. “I came to see Noya.”

Noya looked surprised, but Kiyoko was willing to let Tobio stay for a little while. “Well,” Noya said, “I’m supposed to be resting and all that…”

Tobio squinted at him. “You hate rest,” he said.

“Well yeah, but I just got shot.” Noya shrugged with his left shoulder. “Rest is sort of-”

“You shouldn’t have gotten shot,” Tobio said harshly, and Kiyoko raised her eyebrows at him. He wasn’t looking at her though. He was too busy glaring at Noya.

“Uh, what?” Noya said, obviously offended, “I mean, duh, but they were gonna shoot Suga.”

“But…” Tobio was obviously struggling for words, “But they shouldn’t have been.”

“…Again, duh.”

“Someone should have been watching.”

“Tobio,” Kiyoko said warningly, but Noya was already glaring.

“Who the fuck are you to say someone shoulda watched? You weren’t even _there_. Suga was-”

“Noya, don’t try to sit up,” Kiyoko said sharply, “Tobio, I think Noya needs rest now. Please go.” She hated the pained look on Tobio’s face, but Noya was getting agitated, and he was priority right now. Tobio left.

“What’s his problem?” Noya grumbled.

“He was concerned. He didn’t mean any disrespect.”

“He’s got a weird way of showing concern.”

Kiyoko raised an eyebrow. “And what’s your way of showing concern? Aggressively forcing food on people. I don’t think you’re in a position to judge.”

***

They spent two days on Boros while Noya recovered and Kageyama did some tinkering with the engine that he apparently couldn’t do while they were in space. Tadashi and Tsukishima were gone most of the time, which came as something of a relief to Shouyou. Tadashi seemed nice, but Tsukishima was scary.

The best parts of those days were his lessons with Asahi, sometimes with Hisashi as well, who was the pilot of _Karasuno 2_. Shouyou wasn’t the best student, but he felt like he was making progress. By the end of the second day, he could often remember what most of the buttons and switches did, which he thought was saying something since he’d never been in this kind of ship before. Asahi was even considering taking him on a practice flight in one of the shuttles next time they landed.

When he wasn’t learning to fly, Shouyou had chores to do around the ship. Part of earning his keep was keeping the passenger dorms clean (except for Tsukishima’s room; no one was allowed in there), helping with meals, sweeping, cleaning up after meals, and generally a lot of the things he had done at home.

The only thing wrong, as far as he could see, was Kageyama. He seemed to take every opportunity to criticize him, which was totally unfair. Shouyou was learning, and besides Kageyama was a mechanic, not a pilot. What did he know about anything? Apparently, the answer was that he knew absolutely everything there was to know about machines and could make anything work ten times better than new. But he was still a jerk.

“Of course he’s a jerk,” Tanaka said to him that evening as they prepared for take-off. “But he’s a great mechanic, and you know the pilot and the mechanic have to work together, right? I don’t know that much about it, but if you want to fly the ship, the mechanic has to know how to make things work right. So you guys probably have to get along better than this.”

Shouyou wrinkled his nose. “Ugh. But he’s always so mean! How do I get along with someone like him?”

Tanaka shrugged. “I don’t know. Usually I don’t have to as much.”

***

“Got a wave from Ukai,” Asahi said when Daichi entered the bridge. “Sounds like he has a job for us, finally. Salvage. He’ll tell us the details when we see him.”

“What kind of salvage?”

Asahi shrugged. “Could be legitimate. But most salvage we get tends towards the illegal kind.”

“Well, it’ll pay. How far out are we?”

“Should be on Aberdeen in time for breakfast. Though local time will be lunch.”

“Good.” Daichi sat down on the steps leading down to the cockpit. “How are Shouyou’s lessons going?”

“He’s…enthusiastic,” Asahi said, “I think we’re making progress. Might take him out in the second shuttle next time we get a chance. Somewhere on land. Preferably without obstacles. A desert maybe.”

“That well, huh? Gotta say, he doesn’t seem the studious type.”

“Oh, he’s not,” Asahi said, “But he’s got good instincts.”

“And the shuttle’s not as complicated as the ship. Could be that’ll actually go well,” Daichi mused.

“Could be.”

Suga stuck his head around the door. “Hey, dinner’s in about two minutes, and it turns out Kei knew how to cook this whole time.”

“What!?”

Suga nodded. “He actually offered to help today, and I don’t think I’ve ever smelled artificial protein that close to real food.”

“We’ll be right there,” Daichi said. “Can you believe this?” he said to Asahi when Suga was gone.

“I wouldn’t have expected Tsukishima to know how to cook,” Asahi agreed.

“No, I mean he offered to _help_.”

Asahi laughed. “Miracles do happen.”

“…Tadashi probably made him do it.”

“Oh, yeah. Probably.”

They entered the dining room to find Tsukishima putting a dish of something strange and delicious smelling on the table in front of Tadashi, Kiyoko, and Noya. Kageyama entered moments later and frowned at the sight.

“Tsukishima cooked? Why does it smell good?”

“Tch. Unlike some people, I can do basic domestic tasks.”

“Doesn’t smell basic,” Noya said doubtfully. He was still a bit weak, but he refused to be confined to the infirmary any longer. “Did you poison it?”

Tsukishima gave him a condescending look. “Why would I poison it? Tadashi and I are both eating it too.”

“Tsukki, be nice.”

Tsukishima ignored Tadashi in favor of returning to the kitchen to get more food. Kageyama sat down between two empty chairs toward the end of the table. Slowly, the rest of the crew and sundry filled up the rest of the chairs. Finally they were all served and eating. It was as good as it smelled.

“Kei, where did you learn to cook like this?” Suga asked.

Tsukishima shrugged, and Tadashi looked amused. “I guess I just picked it up along the way. My mother’s very good at cooking.”

It was about as much actual information as Daichi had expected from him. “You ought to help out more often,” Daichi said, and he immediately realized what that probably sounded like. “It’s not an order, just a suggestion,” he added hastily, “This is really good.”

Tsukishima nodded uncomfortably and looked back down at his plate. Tadashi suppressed a snicker.

Conversation continued normally after that, though Kageyama looked even more sullen and withdrawn than usual, and Noya kept looking at him and frowning. Shouyou seemed fascinated by Tadashi, and Tadashi politely answered most of his questions that didn’t break client confidentiality. They hadn’t had much chance to interact since Shouyou had boarded. This was only the second meal Tadashi and Tsukishima had joined them for, and the first one had been right after Shouyou’s first flying lesson, so there hadn’t been much chance for conversation that didn’t involve flying. Tsukishima had left early that time, claiming boredom and work to do, though none of them had yet figured out what exactly that work could be.

“Looks like we’ve got another job,” Daichi said to the table at large. “Some kind of salvage. We’ll get the details from Ukai tomorrow. We’re landing on Aberdeen.”

“Will we be there long?” Tadashi asked.

“Probably not,” Daichi said apologetically. “Just long enough to talk shop and go.”

“Then again, Ukai and Takeda might ask us to stay for drinks,” Suga pointed out.

Daichi sincerely hoped they wouldn’t. Last time they’d gone for drinks with Ukai and Takeda, well…according to Suga’s highly amused reports, it hadn’t been his finest hour. “They might, but they might not,” he said, and Suga smiled.

“Wait,” Shouyou said, catching up to the conversation, “Salvage, does that mean Alliance work or is it illegal? I mean, they don’t really allow free-lance salvage, do they?”

Daichi glanced at Suga. “We’re not sure yet,” he said, “Could be Alliance, but most likely we’ll be getting to whatever it is before Alliance comes to clean up.”

Shouyou screwed up his face in concentration. “So…you guys do crime too?”

“Sometimes,” Suga said, “But we’ve got our own set of laws. It’s not like we steal from people who don’t have anything. And when we can get legal work, we’ll take that first.”

“Is that a problem for you, Shouyou?” Daichi asked, trying not to sound threatening.

“No!” Shouyou said quickly, “No, I got no problem with some crime to keep flying, long as it’s not hurting anybody. And Alliance hasn’t exactly been helpful on Avalon. It’s a bit worrying though. I mean…isn’t it kinda dangerous? Noya’s already been shot.”

“That was on a legit job,” Noya pointed out. “It’s not so much more dangerous.”

“I don’t think that’s comforting, Noya,” Tanaka said, “Don’t worry about us, Shouyou. Captain knows what he’s doing, and anything he doesn’t know, Suga knows.”

“But no pressure,” Hisashi said cheerfully.

“Thanks,” said Suga.

***

After dinner, Tobio found Noya again. He had been avoiding him for the past two days, knowing he had offended him before. But it was important to talk to people. He was learning that. “Uh…” He had hoped to be slightly more eloquent this time, but apparently it was not to be.

“Don’t sweat it, Kageyama,” Noya said brightly, “I was actually looking for you. Kiyoko told me you were just concerned and awkward. Sorry I snapped at you!”

“…Oh. Um. Thanks. And sorry.” That had been far easier than anticipated. He had expected yelling on Noya’s part and possibly some groveling on his. But as intense as Noya was, Tobio supposed, everyone listened to Kiyoko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Kags. Oh you large awkward blueberry.
> 
> Should I have been more creative in naming the second years' ship? Probably. But here we are.


	4. A Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get a job. Of course there are complications.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually updated in a week! Hooray!

Suga walked quietly down the hall towards the common area. Sleep was hard to come by these days, and he was hoping tea would help. It couldn’t hurt anyway. As he passed Tobio’s room, he heard a thump and a muffled cry.

“Tobio?” He knocked softly. All sounds of movement from behind the door stopped. “Tobio, are you okay?”

Footsteps approached the door, and it opened. Tobio stood there, arms crossed defensively against his chest and tear tracks that he hadn’t quite been able to wipe away visible on his face.

“Sorry, Sugawara. Did I wake you up?”

“No, I was just walking past,” Suga said gently, “Why don’t you come have some tea with me?”

“I…don’t want to interrupt.”

“You’re not interrupting,” Suga said, “I wouldn’t mind some company. Come on.” He led the way into the kitchen. Tobio followed silently. Suga watched him out of the corner of his eye as he filled the kettle. Tobio leaned his hip against the counter, crossing his arms again, but unlike the usual gesture of irritation and stubbornness, this looked more like he was holding himself. Suga couldn’t tell if he was holding himself back, in, together, or all of them at once, or just holding himself for want of anything else to hold onto.

“Nightmare?” he asked, pulling two mugs down from a shelf.

“…Yeah.”

Suga nodded. “Sounds like it was pretty bad.”

“It was.”

Suga nodded again. “If you want to talk about it, you can. I think it would help you, but I don’t want to pressure you if you’re not comfortable.” He handed Tobio a steaming mug of tea. “Let’s sit.”

“I thought you weren’t going to pressure me.”

Suga smiled. “I won’t pressure you to talk, but we can sit quietly too.”

“Oh.”

They sat. Suga cradled his tea in his hands and waited for Tobio to speak. He would wait all night if necessary.

“My parents died,” Tobio said finally. Suga said nothing. He had known that much. “I wasn’t there, don’t know what happened exactly. Shuttle broke down mid-flight. I was thirteen.”

“I’m sorry,” Suga said, because he was, and because it was the thing to say.

“I got sent to a foster care facility on Atlas, met some people, stowed away with them when they left. They didn’t exactly want me there, but they needed a mechanic, and I was good. But…anyway, the nightmare was…it was them, and they got in a shuttle, just like the one my parents were in. Flew away. Left me. …And then there was weird stuff with black holes and tentacle monsters, but that was just normal nightmares.” Tobio looked up at Suga. “Right?”

“Black holes and tentacle monsters sound normal enough, but I’m sure a psychologist would find some symbolism to work with,” Suga said, “I know it’s hard to believe after everything that’s happened to you, but this crew, we’re not leaving you behind. You’re one of us, and we don’t take that lightly.”

“I don’t think any of them actually like me,” Tobio said quietly.

“They’ll learn,” Suga said firmly, “And it might help if you acted like you liked them. But anyway, what’s liking got to do with it? You’re on this crew. That’s more important.”

Tobio smiled a tiny smile. At any rate, he frowned less. “Thanks.”

Suga smiled. “Any time.”

“Why were you up?” Tobio asked after a minute of quiet tea drinking, and Suga hesitated for a fraction of a second.

“Just restless. Worried about Noya too. But the tea’s helping.” Not as much as he’d hoped it would, but helping.

“Oh,” Tobio said, and seemed to search for a response for a moment before giving up.

“Do you think you can go back to sleep now?” Suga asked. Tobio nodded. “Good.” He drained his mug and put it in the sink with Tobio’s.

“Goodnight,” Tobio said when they got to his room.

“Goodnight,” Suga said, and continued on to his own room, where he, eventually, fell asleep.

***

Aberdeen was full of activity, and Daichi and Asahi had to go in front to carve a path through the crowd. Ryuu stayed at the back of the group, watching to make sure they all stuck together. Kageyama had never been here before, and though Noya insisted he was fine, he was still in a sling and therefore vulnerable in Ryuu’s eyes. Aberdeen wasn’t a bad place, but it wasn’t exactly the height of civilization either. He had a feeling Chikara was watching out for them too. But no one bothered them the whole way to Ukai and Takeda’s.

Daichi led the way in, nodding to the guard at the door as they passed. “Ukai, Takeda, good to see you!”

“And you,” Takeda said.

“I see we’ve got a new face,” Ukai said, “What, two mechanics weren’t enough for you?”

Ukai had that weird habit of guessing a person’s job just by looking at them. It wasn’t hard with Kageyama, who looked the part pretty well. It had been amusing when Noya finally stumped him though. Ryuu couldn’t wait for him to meet Tsukishima.

“This is Tobio Kageyama. He’s a genius,” Suga said, “And having him on _Karasuno_ gives me time for other work that needs doing.”

“Nice to meet you, Tobio,” Takeda said.

“Alright, we’ve got a bit of a time crunch,” Ukai said before Takeda could start small talk. Takeda could small talk for hours if need be. “Come here.” He led them over to his desk and pressed a few buttons. “The target’s a transport ship, not unlike yours. Crew was forced to abandon it after the engine blew. It was carrying mostly junk, but in here…” He zoomed in on a room towards the back of the ship. “…They had a shipment of crop supplements, seeds, protein, all meant to go to Dresden. You get to them first, and I’ve got a buyer on Deadwood who’ll pay a good price. You remember Shimada?”

“What about the people on Dresden? Don’t they need that stuff?” Suga asked.

“No one’s livin’ off the land on Dresden. It’s a vacation moon for the rich and prosperous of Dyton and Muir. Alliance is trying to make it more accessible for regular living, and they’ll send another shipment out in plenty of time.”

“Sounds solid,” Daichi said, “What’s the catch?”

“Alliance is gonna be looking to recover the goods sooner rather than later,” Ukai said, “And who knows who else is after it? This ship isn’t exactly the most valuable prize out there, but it’s attracted enough attention you might have competition.”

“Right. Looks doable to me. Suga?”

Suga nodded.

“Asahi?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. Send us the coordinates, and we’ll get there fast as we can. Doesn’t look like the Alliance could get there first, but we don’t want anyone else to get there first either. Thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go get the job done. And be careful for once.”

Ryuu laughed along with Daichi. No matter what he said to the contrary, Ukai always let his actual concern about them slip out.

“How fast do you think you can make it, Asahi?” Noya asked as they walked back to the ship.

“Hopefully fast enough.”

“Aw, come on, Asahi! Where’s your confidence?”

“He’s just like that,” Daichi said, grinning at Asahi, “He’s got a heart of glass, Noya. You know that.”

“Daichi, be nice.”

“I’m always nice. Just not to Asahi.”

They met Tadashi, Shouyou, and Hisashi coming back to the ship at the same time as them. Shouyou was talking loudly and excitedly about all the things they’d seen in town. His bright orange head rose and fell as he bounced along in front of them.

“Where’s Tsukishima?” Daichi asked Tadashi.

“He stayed on the ship.” Tadashi glanced at Shouyou. “I don’t think he would have handled this outing very well.”

“Ah. Yes, I see your point there.”

Tadashi sighed. “He’s not fond of excessive noise.”

“He doesn’t seem to be fond of much.”

“He’s…reserved,” Tadashi said, “But he’s not like you think.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s got plenty of hidden redeeming qualities. You have better taste than that.”

Tadashi let out an amused huff. “Thanks, I think. Anyway, how’s the crime?”

“Good,” Daichi said, “Shouldn’t be trouble, but then again, when does anything ever go without trouble for us?”

“Are we headed towards civilization by any chance?” Tadashi asked as they stepped into the cargo bay.

“Deadwood. Not exactly the height of class, but could be you’ll find some work. We’ll probably stay about a day before we have to get back with Ukai’s share. But then we’ll be on Aberdeen for a bit longer if all goes well.”

“Great. Deadwood, huh? Well, maybe we can find someone. And maybe Tsukki won’t scare them all off.”

Daichi tilted his head. “Does he do that often?”

“No. Though not for lack of trying. You might have noticed he’s protective.”

“I suppose so. Still, it seems a bit weird.”

“What?”

“A companion with an agent.”

“I suppose so,” Tadashi said, but he didn’t elaborate, so Daichi didn’t ask.

***

“We’re five minutes out,” Asahi told Daichi when he entered the bridge.

“See anybody nearby?”

“Nothing the sensors are picking up, but we want to be quick anyway.”

“Right. Suga, Tanaka, and I are going on board. They’re prepping the suits now. Kageyama’s in the engine room if we need him. Noya’s on stand-by. We don’t want him doing anything he doesn’t have to.”

“Got it.”

“Let me know if anyone comes knocking.”

***

“Artificial gravity’s still working,” Suga said, “But main and auxiliary life support are down.”

“This way.” Daichi took the lead down a few hallways and up some stairs. The door ahead of them was locked. “Suga?”

“Give me a minute.” After a few minutes of tinkering, Suga stood back, and the door opened.

“Nicely done.”

“Thanks.”

“Let’s get this stuff and go.”

They took what they could carry, but a second trip was going to be necessary. Chikara, Hisashi, and Kazuhito were waiting for them in the cargo bay.

“We’ll get this stuff stowed. You go back for the rest,” Chikara told them.

“Aye-aye, Captain,” Daichi said sardonically. But he didn’t object.

Asahi’s voice crackled through the ship. “Incoming transport ship, no Alliance registration, but they’re definitely headed our way.”

Daichi swore under his breath. “Weapons?” he asked.

“None that I can see.”

“Have they spotted us?”

“They haven’t said anything, but they’re almost definitely here for the salvage, so they probably will.”

“Bastards. We got here first,” Tanaka grumbled.

“If we go now, we can avoid confrontation, and we’ve already got half the goods,” Suga said, “We could just let them have the other half.”

“What? We can’t just let them have it!” Tanaka said loudly.

“No, we can’t,” Daichi agreed, “This is a big deal for us.”

“Then what’s the plan?” Suga asked.

“Well first of all, we get back and load the rest of the cargo. If they don’t have any weapons like Asahi said, we should be good for a while. If they hail us, we’re looking for survivors. If they believe that, we’ll be good. If they don’t, it still might give us enough time, or we go to Plan B.”

“What’s Plan B?”

“Working on it.” He relayed the plan to Asahi, who was as unsure as Suga, but agreed for lack of anything better.

“Asahi!” Shouyou came running onto the bridge. “Trouble?”

“Ah…sort of. We’ve got another ship coming in for the salvage, and if we don’t get out of here soon, well, either they’ll try and board us, or they’ll follow us until we land and try to take it then. Probably.”

“What do we do?”

“First we’re going to try to make them think we don’t have the cargo, that we’re just looking for survivors. If that doesn’t work, and it probably won’t, we come up with something else.”

Shouyou looked thoughtful. “What about a diversion?”

“A diversion?”

“Yeah!” Shouyou looked excited. “Make them think the goods are on _Karasuno 2_ and have them chase that. Then _Karasuno_ has enough time to get away!”

“That…could work,” Asahi said slowly. “Daichi, we’ve got an idea.”

Shouyou nearly ran into Kageyama as he went to get Hisashi.

“What’s happening?” he asked.

“Another ship coming in!” Shouyou said quickly, “Asahi’s gonna stall! We’ll use _Karasuno 2_ for a decoy! Gotta get Hisashi!” He ran off, and Kageyama turned to go up to the bridge.

***

“—this is Captain Oikawa of _Seijoh_ to _Karasuno_. Please respond.”

Asahi steeled himself and brought up video. “This is Asahi Azumane speaking. How can we help you?”

The screen flickered and resolved into an image of a man, about Asahi’s age, possibly younger, with fluffy brown hair and a cocky grin. “Well, Asahi, it seems there’s been some kind of mistake. See, we’re supposed to be picking up some cargo from this ship, and here we find someone else docked where we ought to be. I don’t suppose you’ve seen our cargo on board?”

“Haven’t been looking,” Asahi said, trying to sound natural, “We saw her out here and thought we’d check for survivors.”

“Should only have taken a quick scan to show that life support’s down. No one’s likely to survive that.”

“We like to be thorough.”

“Of course,” Oikawa said, “But we just want to make sure we get our cargo. You understand, I’m sure.”

“Oikawa?”

Asahi turned around. Kageyama was standing in the doorway, staring at the image of _Seijoh_ ’s captain. His eyes were wide and…hurt? Asahi couldn’t quite tell.

“Problem, Asahi?”

“No,” Asahi said, turning back to the screen, “Just some mechanical difficulty. But we’ll get out of your way as soon as possible.” He hung up and turned back to Kageyama. “Kageyama, you know this guy?”

Kageyama nodded slowly.

“I’ll ask how later. Did he buy it?”

“No. He’s smarter than that. And his crew is good. One of the best. We need that Plan B.”

“Ok.”

“There’s a chance they’ll see through it.”

“That’s why we have Asahi!” Noya said, popping up beside Kageyama and grinning. “Even if Hisashi and Shouyou can’t lead them off, Asahi’s still the best pilot in the ‘verse! They won’t catch us.”

“Don’t underestimate them,” Kageyama said darkly, “I’m going to make sure our decoy is ready.” He hurried off, clanking and rattling with the abundance of tools he always kept on him.

***

Shouyou watched closely as Hisashi prepped the ship for take-off. It was different, he said, from flying _Karasuno_. Shouyou could tell.

“How are we doing in the engine room?” Hisashi asked the intercom.

“Ready,” Kageyama replied.

“Ok. Daichi?”

“Go.”

“Going.”

With a roar of the engines, _Karasuno 2_ rose, backed away from the abandoned ship, and took off through the sky.

“Are they following? Shouyou, _are they following_?”

“They’re not moving. They’ve stopped.”

“So they’re thinking about it. That’s good at least. A little less burn, Kageyama! We don’t actually want to outrun them.”

“But we need to look like we do,” Shouyou objected, “That’s what a decoy’s all about. Go, go, go! Make them believe it!”

“Okay.” Hisashi flicked a couple switches and pushed the controls. They shot forward.

“They’re coming around!” Shouyou said, “They’re following us! It’s working!”

“Great,” Hisashi said, slightly more high-pitched than usual, “Now what?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean they’re chasing us. And they’re going to catch up to us eventually. We don’t want to lead them back to _Karasuno_ , and I’d really rather they don’t kill us.”

“We have to go until the others can sell the goods before we get back to them,” Kageyama said from behind them, making Shouyou jump. “Then we let them board, tell them the stuff’s gone.”

“And if they decide to just kill us for tricking them?” Hisashi asked.

“They won’t. Besides, they’ll catch up to us one way or another.”

Hisashi looked doubtful, but Shouyou nodded.

“Ok. Not like we have much choice anyway,” he said, far too cheerfully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun! Yeah. Um. There's that. Oikawa is interesting to write, and Asahi is very difficult.


	5. A Mechanical Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kageyama has a backstory

4 Years Ago

Tobio tried to stay small and quiet. He’d never gotten along with other people very well. He wasn’t quite sure why, but they always seemed to dislike him. Animals too. The cat had never taken to him like it had to his parents. His parents…. No, he was staying quiet. If he started crying, people would notice. They’d make fun of him. He was fourteen years old. None of the other fourteen-year-olds cried. None that he’d seen anyway. He looked down at his plate – nothing fancy, nothing good like Mom used to make – and reached for the glass of milk instead.

“Hello, mind if we sit?”

Before Tobio could think of a response, two boys sat down at the table with him. One had fluffy, brown hair and a weird smile. The other had darker hair and a frown.

“Hi,” the second one said.

“H-hi.”

“What’s your name?” the first one asked. He seemed friendly.

“Tobio Kageyama,” Tobio said shyly, “What are yours?”

“I’m Hajime Iwaizumi. This is Tooru Oikawa.”

“Oikawa please,” Oikawa told Tobio. “How old are you, Tobio-chan?”

“Fourteen.” _Tobio-chan?_

“Damn,” Hajime said, “We were hoping you were a bit older.”

“Oh,” Tobio said, heart sinking, “Sorry. Why?”

“Well, Iwa-chan’s turning eighteen in three weeks, and I’m turning eighteen about a month after that. We’re looking for others to join us when we get out of here. I’ve made arrangements for a ship, and we need a crew. But we’re not waiting around four years for you to turn eighteen.”

“Oh, but…couldn’t I leave early? If you want me to, I mean. I don’t have anything waiting for me after I’m eighteen, and I could be a mechanic. I’m good with machines.”

“Really?” Oikawa leaned forward, “How good?”

“Shut up, Shittykawa. Sorry, kid. We can’t take children with us.”

“I’m not a child.”

“Legally you are.”

“Couldn’t you…I don’t know…adopt me or something?”

Both of them laughed. “Kid,” Hajime said, “I’m sorry you’re stuck here, but trust me, you do not want this guy to adopt you. Or me for that matter. Plus, we couldn’t. No way anyone would see us as fit parents, especially for a guy four years younger than us.”

“But I could help,” Tobio said desperately, “I’m really good with machines. My dad said I could be the best someday. I hate it here. Please take me with you?”

“Hmm.” Oikawa leaned back in his chair.

“Oikawa, no. Look, Tobio, I’d love to get you out of here, but we can’t take you. Get yourself out and we’ll see, but we’ve got plans that don’t involve getting arrested for kidnapping. Sorry, Tobio.”

“Oh well,” Oikawa said, and stood up too, “Best of luck, Tobio-chan.” He waved, and they left.

***

Tobio spent most of the following week watching Oikawa and Hajime whenever he could. They didn’t seem to be having much luck finding someone to join them, until they found someone named Takahiro, who, Tobio found out, had a friend who had left earlier that year. He wouldn’t be turning eighteen for a few more months, but he was working on getting himself emancipated so he could join his friend. Tobio seethed with jealousy for a little while, but it turned out that neither Takahiro nor his friend were mechanically inclined. He approached Oikawa again.

“I still want to go with you. Can I, please?”

“No.” Oikawa did sound a little sorry.

***

Hajime left two weeks later, and Tobio asked again, but was rejected again. There was only one thing for it. He would stow away. And once they were far enough out, he would reveal himself and fix some mechanical problem, and then they would have to let him stay.

Stage one actually went fairly well. Oikawa had made plenty of friends at Kitagawa Daiichi Foster Home, and in all the spectacle of him leaving, Tobio easily slipped by unnoticed. He didn’t have much to bring with him either, so it wasn’t much trouble to stash it in a passenger dorm on _Seijoh_ , Oikawa and Hajime’s ship. He snuck into the engine room to wait there and acquaint himself with the machinery.

About five minutes later, the engine started. She was a beautiful ship, and Tobio didn’t mind staying in the engine room for a while. Hell, he probably wouldn’t mind staying in here for the rest of his life. He would have to emerge eventually though. He felt very small suddenly. Somehow the idea of stowing away was much less scary than the reality. Oikawa and Hajime might do anything to him. He hadn’t meant to make them angry, but it occurred to him now that he probably would. Unless…

He looked back at the engine. It was beautiful, very well designed, but that didn’t mean there was nothing to fix. He rolled up his sleeves and opened the nearest box of tools.

***

“Captain, it seems we have a stow-away. He’s in the passenger dorms whenever you want to come deal with him.”

Tobio sat on the bed and stared up at the man who had caught him. It was Takahiro’s friend, Issei, and he didn’t seem to be buying Tobio’s explanation that he really just wanted to help, and the engine was running better now.

They waited in silence. Issei looked bored, which Tobio figured was at least better than him looking angry. He couldn’t help glancing at the gun strapped to his hip though. Eventually, Issei picked up on this.

“Relax, kid. I’m not going to shoot you. Oikawa’s got an ‘ask questions first, shoot later if at all’ policy. And he’s the captain for whatever reason, so I’m following that.”

“He’s a great leader,” Tobio said.

“Sure.”

“I asked to join as the mechanic, but he and Hajime said no.”

“And you stowed away anyway?”

Tobio shrugged. “Still seemed like my best shot.”

The door opened, and Oikawa and Hajime walked in. Hajime rolled his eyes. Oikawa looked pleasantly surprised.

“Tobio-chan! What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to help. I fixed your engine.”

“It wasn’t broken,” Hajime said.

“But it wasn’t as good as it is now,” Tobio told them, “I made it better. You can see for yourself.”

“Is that so?” Oikawa said, eyes narrowing slightly. He didn’t look unhappy, but for the life of him, Tobio couldn’t figure out what he _did_ look like. “Let’s go look!”

Ten minutes later, Tobio wasn’t entirely sure how it had happened. Oikawa was suddenly even more reluctant. Takahiro and Issei seemed to think a mechanic was a mechanic, fourteen or not. And Hajime had done a complete one-eighty. Now he was arguing with Oikawa on Tobio’s side.

“Look, he’s here now. We let him sneak on. He’s our responsibility.”

Oikawa pouted. “But Iwa-chan, you said it yourself! We’re not fit to parent him.”

“We don’t have to be parents, but he’s better off here with us than back there. And we need a mechanic.”

“I can be a mechanic!”

“No, you can’t. You’re the captain. Besides, the kid’s a genius. You saw that engine. We need him, and he needs us. It’s that simple.”

“Fine. At least for now. Tobio-chan, welcome aboard.” Oikawa smiled again. Tobio smiled back and shook his hand.

“Thank you.”

***

Oikawa was an incredible captain. He knew how to keep everyone sane and happy, how to talk to other captains or anyone else to get what he wanted or the crew wanted. He could fly better than the rest of them (they hadn’t found a real pilot yet, but Oikawa, Takahiro, and Issei knew enough for the time being), and he could fight too. Tobio didn’t get to see much of the fighting, but he was okay with that. It wasn’t like there was that much fighting anyway, or so it seemed. Most of Oikawa’s strategies seemed to involve more subtlety. Oikawa spent a lot of time in the engine room as well, though he didn’t talk to Tobio much. He was learning all about _Seijoh_ ’s engine, and he was learning fast. Tobio was impressed. Oikawa didn’t have the intuitive grasp of how machinery worked that Tobio had, but he learned the names of every little part and how they were supposed to function. Tobio worked hard to keep up. He wanted to continue to be useful after all. Oikawa didn’t seem to appreciate his efforts to help, but then again, Tobio had stowed away on his ship. It was probably understandable.

At least, that’s what Tobio thought until the day he asked Oikawa to teach him to fly. It was only thanks to Hajime’s intervention that Oikawa didn’t slap Tobio.

After that, Tobio spent more and more time in the engine room, away from everyone else. Oikawa didn’t go there as much, and when he did, Tobio made any excuse he could to leave. He knew now that Oikawa didn’t like him. He still wasn’t entirely sure why, but he thought it had something to do with Oikawa being jealous. Which didn’t make sense, but then again other people almost never made sense to Tobio.

***

Tobio didn’t like the new crew members. Akira Kunimi and Yutarou Kindaichi had both been at Kitagawa Daiichi too. Tobio had gotten along with them alright when they were there, but now was a different story. They were, as far as Tobio could tell, completely indifferent to _Seijoh_ ’s wellbeing. They were careless with the engine, and they couldn’t seem to understand that _pilots depended on mechanics_. It pissed him off. Tensions were rising on the ship. But Tobio didn’t suspect anything was really wrong. Not until his eighteenth birthday.

He hadn’t expected any kind of celebration beyond a casual ‘happy birthday,’ and that was about what he got. But he overheard Oikawa and Hajime in the cargo bay.

“…on our crew, asshole,” Hajime said.

“You know as well as I do he’s not good for the rest of us.”

“Really? Or is he not good for your ego?”

“Iwa-chan! This isn’t…entirely about me. I just want to be the best captain I can be, and that means having a crew that works together. It’s not like I want to just drop him, but he can take care of himself now.”

“No, he can’t!”

Tobio backed away, and then he ran back to the engine room. He was sure they were talking about him. They were going to kick him off the ship. He’d thought they cared about him a little anyway. Maybe Hajime would convince Oikawa not to do it, but how much better was that, really? To be on a ship where he knew, for certain now, that they were only keeping him because they felt responsible? He had been trying so hard to win their approval, to prove that he was the best mechanic for them. But none of it had worked.

He spent two days trying not to talk to anyone. On the third day, they landed on a border moon, and Tobio all but locked himself in the engine room. They couldn’t kick him off if they couldn’t get to him. But they didn’t try. He started to think Hajime might have won the argument, that they weren’t going to get rid of him after all. They did need a mechanic, and Tobio was the best.

He left the engine room at the end of dinner. Yutarou and Akira were the only ones still there, but there were left-overs still on the table. He got himself a plate in silence, not paying any attention to their conversation until Yutarou turned to him.

“Hey, Kageyama, what were you doing in the engine room all day? You barely left to eat.”

Tobio shrugged. If they didn’t know, he wasn’t going to tell them. “Working.”

“Really? All day?”

Tobio nodded. Akira stood up, motioning for Yutarou to follow him. “Last one does the dishes,” he said flatly. They left. Tobio watched them go, and they probably thought he couldn’t hear the muttered “Couldn’t he just stay in the engine room all the time? We wouldn’t have to put up with him…”

They landed on Persephone, and once Tobio set foot there, he never saw the inside of _Seijoh_ again.

They weren’t cruel about it, but that was probably the cruelest part. Issei and Takahiro helped him carry his things off the ship. Oikawa gave him a month’s worth of wages. Hajime wished him luck. But none of them seemed that sorry to see him go. Akira and Yutarou didn’t even bother to say goodbye. He stood, jostled by the crowd at the docks, as _Seijoh_ closed her doors and took off. 

***

Present Day

It became clear soon that _Karasuno 2_ wouldn’t be able to outrun _Seijoh_ , so the only option was to try to stall them long enough for _Karasuno_ to sell the salvage. Hopefully it would both work and not get them killed. Tobio didn’t think Oikawa would kill them needlessly, but then again, he hadn’t thought he would abandon Tobio either.

“I don’t like this,” Shouyou said as _Karasuno 2_ clunked into place against _Seijoh_ ’s bay doors.

“Neither do I,” Tobio said.

He wasn’t looking forward to seeing the crew of _Seijoh_ again. It had only been three months since they’d dropped him on Persephone. He wondered if they’d found a new mechanic yet. But there wasn’t much time for wondering.

Hisashi opened the door connecting to _Seijoh_ , and Oikawa entered the small cargo bay, looking around with apparent interest. Hajime, Akira, and Takahiro followed him. Tobio had about four seconds to take them in before they noticed him. They looked much like they had before, though Takahiro had cut his hair, and Oikawa now had a knee brace. Tobio wasn’t surprised.

“Tobio-chan!”

“Tobio?”

Hisashi and Shouyou turned to him. “You know these guys?”

Tobio nodded. “I was their mechanic before I was yours.”

“And you didn’t think to tell us?” Hisashi said exasperatedly.

Tobio shrugged, avoiding eye contact with everyone. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Rude, Tobio-chan!” Oikawa said, but Tobio refused to look at him. He glared at the floor in front of him instead. Hajime seemed to get the hint anyway and quickly changed the subject.

“So about our cargo,” he said.

“It’s not really yours,” Shouyou said, and Tobio felt like smacking him. Oikawa’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah,” Hisashi said, crossing his arms defiantly, “Finders keepers, Captain. We got there first.”

“And then we found you.” Oikawa rested an apparently casual hand on his hip, but Tobio knew it was just to get it closer to his holster. “So hand over the cargo, and we’ll be on our way. Or don’t, and things get nasty.”

“Oikawa, I don’t see the stuff in here,” Takahiro pointed out.

“So they stashed it,” Akira said disinterestedly. “What does that matter?”

Oikawa looked from Hisashi to Shouyou, to Tobio, and back again. Realization dawned on his face.

“It’s not stashed, is it?” he said softly, “You tricked us.” He looked half angry, half impressed.

“The goods are halfway to our buyer by now,” Hisashi said, smiling slightly, “There’s no way we get to them before they’re gone.”

Hajime swore. “You got us with a fucking decoy.”

“To be fair, it was a pretty convincing decoy.” Hisashi shrugged. “Now, if you would be so kind as to get off our ship, we can all go our separate ways.”

Oikawa’s hand hesitated over his gun for a moment, but then he smiled again, and Tobio fought the urge to back away from that smile as fast as possible. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again. Bye, Tobio-chan!” He waved, the others nodded, and then they were gone. Hisashi, Shouyou, and Tobio breathed a collective sigh of relief when the door closed behind them.

“That could have gone way worse,” Hisashi said, leading the way back up to the bridge.

“Next time it will,” Tobio said honestly, “They know us now, and they’ll find out everything about us and use it. Oikawa doesn’t like losing.”

“How come you didn’t tell us you knew them?” Shouyou asked.

Tobio’s shoulders hunched instinctively. “Didn’t seem important.”

“Well, it might have been nice to know we weren’t about to die,” Hisashi pointed out.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Nah, it’s fine. We trusted you anyway, didn’t we?” Shouyou said happily, “And it worked!”

***

Shimada had been happy to see them all again, and he was a reliable businessman, so the actual trade went smoothly. He even invited them out for drinks when they were done. But with _Karasuno 2_ on its way back, the crew declined. Hisashi, Shouyou, and Kageyama returned safe and sound, to everyone’s great relief. Shouyou was still incredibly excited about their whole adventure. Now that it was over, his fear while facing Oikawa was largely forgotten. Suga couldn’t quite bring himself to share in this excitement. He was just glad they had all made it out alive.

“And why exactly was Shouyou even there?” he asked Hisashi.

“Well, it was his idea,” Hisashi said warily, “And I couldn’t have pulled it off without him, honestly.”

Suga sighed disappointedly. Hisashi swallowed. “He’s not part of the crew. He’s still a passenger and therefore our responsibility to-”

“Couldn’t I join the crew?”

Shouyou popped up between them, bouncing excitedly on his toes.

“Uh…” Hisashi said, “I’m gonna…go check on…yeah.” He hurried away before Suga could scold him or Shouyou could ask for his support.

“Shouyou…” Suga began.

“Maybe not right away or anything!” Shouyou said hastily, “I know I’m not good enough to be a pilot yet! But I could be useful! I helped today, and I want to help more! I like it here!”

Suga hesitated. “Shouyou, I…I think you need to talk to Daichi about this more than me. It’s certainly not something to decide hastily anyway. But that was a good idea you had there to use a decoy.” Before Suga could say anything else, Noya bounced up to them as well to congratulate Shouyou again on his successful plan.

Shouyou wanting to become part of the crew wasn’t exactly unexpected. Suga had in fact suspected it might happen since they first met. But it was dangerous. Their work was dangerous, and Shouyou didn’t have much in the way of survival skills. Well, he was fast and had excellent reflexes. But he didn’t know the first thing about fighting or negotiating, and he wasn’t actually a pilot yet. Suga couldn’t stand the thought of him getting hurt by becoming part of the crew. Today had been scary enough.

He knew Daichi had grown attached to Shouyou too, and ultimately the decision was up to him. And as much as Suga didn’t want Shouyou to get hurt by joining, he also didn’t want him to leave. He was good for the whole crew, not just Suga. And they would all (even Tobio and Kei who would never admit it) be sad to see him go.

***

Tsukishima had agreed to help cook again in celebration and because Tadashi had no clients that evening. Shouyou therefore stayed as far away from the kitchen as he reasonably could while the cooking was going on. He was surprised, wandering the hall near his own room, to run into Kageyama. A very miserable looking Kageyama at that.

They stopped and looked at each other for a moment before Kageyama tried to continue past Shouyou towards the stairs.

“Hey, wait a sec!” Shouyou reached out and grabbed Kageyama’s arm. Kageyama reluctantly allowed himself to be held back. “I, uh, what was all that about?” Shouyou asked, “I mean, with your old crew and everything.”

“What about them?”

“I mean…well, they didn’t seem thrilled to see you, and you looked totally miserable to see them. How come?”

“None of your business,” Kageyama snapped, tugging his arm out of Shouyou’s grip.

“No, wait! Come on! We’re supposed to work together, right? How can we do that if I don’t know why you’re so grumpy all the time?”

“I’m not grumpy,” Kageyama said, grumpily.

“Uh-huh. Then what’s with all the…” Shouyou flattened down his hair with both hands and pulled his face into a scowl. “… “Dumbass, that’s the wrong button. I would be a better pilot than you myself.””

“I don’t look like that!”

“You so do!”

“Well, you are a dumbass!”

“Well, you’re a jerk! But! The point is I wanna know what’s wrong with you and your old crew. So, how come you’re not with them anymore?”

Kageyama fidgeted uncomfortably under Shouyou’s intense gaze. “I…does it matter?”

“Yeah.”

“Fine. I’m not with them anymore because they dumped me.”

“They dumped you? What, like a boyfriend?”

“No, dumbass! Like they had me for their mechanic for two years, and then they dumped me on Persephone ‘cause I didn’t ‘fit in with the crew’ or something. Happy?”

“Ooooooh,” Shouyou said slowly, “I…think I get it? They abandoned you, and now you think _Karasuno_ might do the same if you’re not a good enough mechanic, right?”

Kageyama crossed his arms and said nothing.

“Well,” Shouyou continued, “I don’t think that’ll ever happen. You’re a jerk a lot of the time, but you are a great mechanic. I never thought I’d get to be on a ship that runs as smooth as this. So whatever they thought you were doing wrong, you’re doing it right.”

It took a while for his words to really sink in, but they left Kageyama flustered and speechless. Shouyou beamed at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter yet! Also longest chapter I anticipate writing, but you never know.
> 
> Some notes about Seijoh: Yeah, I kind of combined the Oikawa-Kageyama backstory with the Abandonment Issues-Kageyama backstory, but I'm ok with that, and to be fair, Kindaichi and Kunimi had a lot to do with it too. No, I don't hate Oikawa. He had his reasons. He actually does want to be the best captain for his ship, and Tobio was not conducive to that at that point. That said, it may seem like it was too easy for them to get away. But this is Oikawa we're talking about. He plans long-term.
> 
> Also a note on names: I originally decided to go with the Americanized order to fit with the Firefly verse, but then some of them just cannot go by first names it just feels too weird. And then I realized that if I continued with that there wouldn't be any Iwa-chan, so I decided that in this verse, Oikawa and maybe some others later actually keep the Japanese order of names because reasons.
> 
> And do I know anything about foster care, emancipation, etc.? Nope! So I am relying on this being the Firefly verse and operating however I want. Oops.


	6. A Moment's Hesitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go wrong again. Surprise.

Kei already regretted agreeing to take part in dinner that night. The crew was celebrating, and therefore they were extra loud and annoying. Tadashi was caught up in conversation with Shouyou again, so it was even worse. They were giving him a headache. He ate quickly, hoping to leave before much longer.

Somehow, the topic turned to the war, and he _really_ wanted to leave before much longer. He stood up, ignoring the food he had left on his plate. Tanaka broke off mid-sentence.

“Hey, Tsukishima, this is a good story!”

“I have work to do.”

“Aw, come on. You do not!” Noya scoffed.

“You never want to talk about the Alliance or the war!” Tanaka said, “You not share our opinion on them?” A challenge. Kei sighed internally.

“I don’t care either way, and I find the entire topic pointless. One side won. The other lost. Here we are. Good night.”

He left before they could say anything else. He was pretty sure anything they said would be angry and/or prying, and he did not have the energy for that kind of discussion tonight.

***

Daichi frowned. He had expected Shouyou to ask to stay. He hadn’t expected it to be so soon, or to feel as conflicted about it as he did. Obviously he liked Shouyou. Everyone (almost everyone) liked Shouyou. But he had to think of the whole ship, and he had to think of money and supplies and did they really need another pilot?

He knew Suga wanted to let him join, despite reservations about safety. But for once, he was actually leaving the decision up to Daichi. Well, Daichi didn’t want to make this decision yet.

“We’ll see,” he said, and Shouyou’s face fell. “I actually mean we’ll see, not no. We can’t decide anything yet. You haven’t even had your first practical flying lesson. It’s just a matter of whether we actually can afford another crew member. We all like having you around, Shouyou. But what about flight school, hm?”

Shouyou shrugged. “There’s still time. And Asahi’s lessons are just as good for now. I want to be a pilot, and I thought flight school was the way to do it. If I can become a pilot without it, fine!”

“And…you really want to join a crew of criminals? Criminals and Tsukishima?”

“I said I don’t care about the criminal stuff, and I mean it,” Shouyou said adamantly, “There’s a reason there’s no good schools or anything on Avalon, and it’s ‘cause the Alliance don’t care about us. So I don’t care about them!”

Daichi smiled, perhaps a little bitterly. “It’s a dangerous life, Shouyou.” He hesitated. “How old were you when the war ended? Eight? Nine?”

“Nine.”

“I was sixteen. Fighting the Alliance rarely comes without a price, Shouyou. We’ve been lucky on this ship so far, but in the war, on other ships, anywhere, people tend to die when they go against the Alliance. Doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing, but it’s definitely worth thinking before you sign on with us.”

Shouyou squinted up at him. “How come you asked how old I was?”

“I remember the war pretty well, Shouyou, better than you do. Didn’t fight it myself, just a bit too young for that. But I knew folks that fought for the Independents. Knew some that died. Like my dad. Point is, if you stay with us, it’s dangerous. And you have to be prepared for that.”

Shouyou nodded solemnly. “Ok.”

***

Noya, Tanaka, Suga, and Asahi went into town on the second day. Daichi had agreed to give them an hour for sight-seeing (not that there was much to see) and shopping (not that there was much to buy). Noya and Tanaka were running rampant as usual, slowed only slightly by Noya’s injury and sling, while Asahi fretted and Suga sighed.

“Look, they’ve got popsicles! Real, actual popsicles! I didn’t think they’d have them here!”

The man selling the ice cream smiled at them. “I get that a lot,” he said, “What’ll it be?”

“Do you have soda flavor?” Noya asked, eyes wide and lit up in a way that made him look even more like a child than he usually did.

“Coming right up!”

“Yes! Guys, you gotta try this! You ever had soda flavor popsicles, Asahi?” he asked, digging in the pockets of his shorts for change.

“Uh…no, no I haven’t.”

“Two popsicles!” Noya said loudly, producing a handful of coins from an inside pocket of his vest. Suga had to wonder what he needed all those pockets for, but it was probably safer not to know.

“Alright. Here you go!”

Noya took the popsicles, handed one to Asahi, and bit into the other. Asahi tried it and smiled at Noya.

“It’s good! Not my favorite, but good.”

“Lemme try,” Ryuu said, snatching Asahi’s popsicle out of his hand. “Hey, that is good!”

“Tastes different from the ones at home,” Noya said, “Still great though!” he added hastily.

The popsicle seller smiled and moved off down the road to find more customers. Noya finished his popsicle quickly while Ryuu took a bit more time with his. Their hour was almost up, so Suga suggested they go back. They left town.

The ship was only a fifteen minute walk away through some trees and over a hill. They had barely started climbing when Noya stumbled the first time.

“Woah,” he said as he caught himself, “I think the heat’s getting to me.”

“Are you alright?” Suga asked, concerned. “Is it your shoulder?”

“Nah, I’m fine,” Noya said, “Just feeling kinda tired. Little bit dizzy. Wasn’t expecting it to be this hot.”

“Yeah, it’s making me tired too,” Ryuu agreed, “Maybe Kiyoko will agree to check us over?”

Suga rolled his eyes. “We-”

He was interrupted by a gunshot. A bullet grazed his right arm, and the path was suddenly full of activity. Three people had sprung into their midst. The first man had grabbed Noya from behind and was dragging him away. Noya was struggling, but there was something weak and sluggish about his movements. He couldn’t seem to coordinate himself properly. Suga looked right at the man who had shot him. It was the popsicle vendor.

 _Shit_.

“Noya!” Ryuu yelled, but he was slowed down too. The third stranger, a woman, jumped into his path. The popsicle vendor seemed to have focused on Suga, and Suga dodged hastily as another shot whizzed by, probably not intending to hit him, a warning. Suga closed the gap between them quickly and tried to wrestle the gun from his grip.

“Asahi, help Noya!” he yelled. A third shot hit a nearby tree and left Suga’s ears ringing. Behind him, Ryuu grunted and fell over. The popsicle vendor used his superior strength to knock Suga to the ground. Then he leveled the gun at Suga’s head, but he didn’t fire. Suga looked up to where Asahi was standing, Noya’s dropped gun in his hand, irresolute, watching Noya being dragged away. The man was holding Noya in front of him, and he had his gun trained on Asahi. Noya was still struggling.

“ASAHI!” Noya yelled, “SHOOT!” And he leaned to give Asahi the clearest shot he could manage.

But Asahi looked around at Suga and Tanaka on the ground, at the three strangers standing with their guns out. And he didn’t move.

“Asahi! A …” Noya slumped forward. He was too far now to see for certain if he was unconscious. The popsicle vendor and the woman kept their guns trained on Suga and Asahi as they followed after their companion. Suga stared, trying to think. They had to do something. They couldn’t just let these people take Noya. Why were they even taking him? Where were they going? They slipped out of sight.

There was nothing to do from here. He stood up. “Asahi, we need to get back to the ship.” When Asahi didn’t move, Suga tapped his shoulder. “Asahi, come on. Help me with Ryuu.”

“Suga, I’m sorry.”

“We couldn’t do anything,” Suga said, even if it wasn’t true. He wasn’t sure. “But now we need to get back to the ship so we can find him. We’ll get him back.”

“I…”

“Are you feeling dizzy? The popsicles were drugged, but you only had a little bit, and you’re bigger than Noya, so it might have less effect.”

“I’m fine.”

“Good. Help me with Ryuu. Hurry and we can catch them.”

Together, they lifted Tanaka and carried him to the ship. Asahi stumbled occasionally, and Suga couldn’t really use his right arm much, but they made good time nonetheless, adrenaline fueling their efforts. Daichi was waiting for them in the cargo bay. He looked impatient and annoyed at first, but that vanished quickly when he saw them. Ryuu was carted off to the infirmary immediately while Suga tried to explain what had happened. He didn’t entirely understand it himself, but Daichi seemed to get the gist.

“Asahi, get to the bridge. Check the area for any other ships. If you find one, take us to it. We are not losing Noya.”

Asahi nodded and hurried off.

“Suga, how’s your arm?”

“Fine,” Suga said, though it did hurt.

“Okay,” Daichi said, though he clearly didn’t believe him. “Get everyone to the cargo bay. We need a plan.”

***

“But they didn’t say anything?” Chikara asked when Suga finished telling the story. “We have no idea why they were taking him?”

Suga shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Then how are we sure they were after him specifically?” asked Hisashi, “What if they just wanted someone from _Karasuno_?”

“It sounds like Noya was targeted too quickly for it to be coincidence. And they obviously knew him pretty well, or at least knew someone who knows him,” Tsukishima said, “Otherwise how would they have known to use soda flavored popsicles? I don’t think this is about the rest of us.”

“True,” said Tadashi, “Has he mentioned anyone before who might have a grudge against him?”

“And for that matter, how did they know he was here?” Tsukishima added.

“The only people who could have told them in time are Ukai, Takeda, and Shimada, right?” Chikara asked Suga.

“I think so,” Suga said, “We’ll check with them.”

“We’ve got a ship a mile out that just took off,” Daichi said over the intercom. “We’re in pursuit. Suga, get up here.”

As Suga hurried away, the rest of the crew dispersed. Chikara, Kazuhito, and Hisashi went up to _Karasuno 2_. Tsukishima and Tadashi wandered toward Tadashi’s shuttle. Shouyou followed Kageyama.

“They’ll get Noya back, right? We’ll get Noya back?” he said quietly as they walked in the general direction of the engine room.

Kageyama nodded. “Of course we will.”

***

“I’m here.” Suga stood next to Daichi. “And we should contact Ukai, Takeda, and Shimada. See if anyone’s been asking about Yuu.”

“Good idea,” Daichi said.

“They’re going pretty fast, Daichi,” Asahi said, “I don’t think we’ll catch up to them at this rate, but at least we can follow.”

“Should we try to contact them?” Suga asked.

“They don’t seem very talkative,” Daichi said, “I say we just follow them, at least until we hear back from Ukai.”

“Alright.” For a minute, they all stood in silence. 

“I’m sorry,” Asahi said, and Daichi and Suga looked at him, surprised.

“What? Why?” Daichi said.

“I gave up. I could have shot that guy holding Noya. I could have done _something_.”

“Asahi,” Suga said, “Not shooting someone is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I could have done _something_ ,” Asahi repeated insistently.

“There’s no point blaming yourself,” said Suga, “There were a lot of ways you trying to shoot could have gone wrong.”

“Now we need to focus on getting Noya back,” Daichi said firmly. “Blame can wait.”

“Alright.”

They fell silent for a little while.

“Why would anyone do this?” Suga asked finally. “Why Yuu? Who would ever want to hurt him?”

“I know what you mean,” Daichi said, “Maybe they don’t want to hurt him?”

“They drugged him and us, shot me, and knocked out Ryuu. I don’t think their intentions are good.”

“But other than the drugging, they didn’t hurt Noya,” Daichi pointed out.

“Maybe they’re working for someone who wants him unharmed,” Asahi suggested.

“Maybe,” Suga agreed, “But we still don’t know what they do want him for. We can’t assume it’s anything good.”

“And we can’t think of _anything_ he’s said that would suggest who we’re dealing with?” said Daichi.

Suga sighed and shook his head. “I know as much as you do, Daichi. He didn’t travel much before he met us. I guess that means there’s a fair possibility whoever wants him is from his home planet. But he never said anything about enemies.”

“He also never said that he was seventeen,” Daichi said. He always brought that up. “We need to start investigating the people we take on board. We barely know anything about him. For all we know, we could be wanted for kidnapping.”

“We’re not going to be arrested for kidnapping. And we know plenty about him, just not his past.”

“Still,” Daichi continued, “What if his parents are - …”

“What?”

Daichi stared wide-eyed at Suga. “What if his parents are looking for him?”

It took Suga and Asahi a second to figure out what Daichi was saying.

“No,” Suga said slowly, “That doesn’t make sense. They drugged him, shot me, and knocked out Ryuu. Besides, you’d think Noya would have recognized them.”

“We did say they’re probably working for someone else,” Asahi said.

“It still doesn’t make sense,” said Suga, “They still had him drugged in that case. What kind of parents drug their child?”

“The kind you run away from when you’re seventeen,” Daichi said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I love Noya. He's one of my favorites. But...here we go.


	7. Guardians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noyaaaaaaa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update is late. I've been combinations of busy and sick.

When Noya woke up he was alone in a strange room. From the feel and sound of things, he was also on a ship. None of this was good news. He stood up slowly, still feeling a bit woozy from whatever had been in that popsicle. The door was locked. He banged on it a few times with his good arm.

“Hey! What the hell’s going on here?”

The door opened, revealing the woman he was pretty sure had knocked out Ryuu. He glared. She glared right back.

“Yuu. Sorry about the drugs, just wanted to make sure your, uh, _crew_ didn’t get in the way. Or you.”

“Who the hell are you and what do you want with me?”

“We’re taking you home, kid. Now shut up and don’t cause trouble.” She closed the door, and it locked again. Noya staggered to the bed and sat down.

 _We’re taking you home. Home._ His heart was hammering in his chest like it was trying to escape.

He couldn’t believe they’d found him. Well, he could, actually. But it didn’t feel real. He didn’t know why they’d found him. Why did they even want him back after everything? Well, one thing was certain. He wasn’t going.

If only he could figure out how to get away this time.

***

Approximately 4 Years Ago

Noya glared at his pile of ripped clothing, mostly pants and a few jackets. He had liked those clothes. He would have to learn to sew or something. He certainly wasn’t going to ask his parents for new ones. They’d just put more tracers in them. And that would be counter-productive. He picked up his pocket knife (at least he’d been able to keep that from them) and turned to his shoes. He had to give his parents credit. They’d been very thorough.

At least the tracers were small, he thought, glaring at the pile of them on his desk. His shoes were still wearable. Now he just had to figure out a way to keep his parents from reusing them. He picked up one of the big, heavy books his parents were always encouraging him to read and dropped it heavily on top of them. They didn’t break.

“Stupid tech people with their stupid tough tracers,” Noya grumbled. He gathered the tracers in his hands, snuck into the bathroom, and flushed them away. “There. Track those.”

He went back to his room and flopped down onto his bed. Tracers or no tracers, getting out the door was difficult enough these days. His parents didn’t like him going out on his own or to places they didn’t approve of. And since places they didn’t approve of covered anything fun or interesting, Noya did a lot of sneaking around. His latest escapade had ended at two in the morning, and he had been caught sneaking in the window. At that point, they decided that Noya couldn’t be trusted on his own and put tracers in his clothes.

Well, now that was dealt with. They would be angry when they found out of course, but maybe this would finally get them to give up controlling him. He was seventeen years old, not three.

The figuring it out happened that night. Noya had just gone to bed when he heard his father shout from down the hall. His father normally didn’t shout. It was impressive.

“YUU NISHINOYA!”

Noya sat up as his bedroom door opened. His parents were standing there, looking furious.

“What’s up?”

“'What’s up?' Yuu, I have just about had it with your attitude,” his mother said.

Noya rolled his eyes. “It’s not an attitude. It’s a question.”

“Don’t you dare take that tone with us. What have you done with those tracers?”

“What tracers?” Noya said innocently.

“You know exactly what tracers.”

“The ones you put in my clothes and shoes without telling me? They’re gone,” he said, crossing his arms defiantly, “Unless you want to go digging through sewage for them.”

“How dare you?” his father said loudly, not yelling anymore. Yelling was for uncivilized people. “We put those there for your own good. After everything we’ve done for you, this is how you repay us?”

“Everything you’ve done for me?” Noya repeated incredulously, “What the hell have you done for me that gives you the right to track my every move?”

“You are our son!” his mother said, “We _raised_ you.”

“That’s what you’re supposed to do with your kids, yeah,” Noya said, “Congrats, you didn’t kill me.”

“We’ve given you a life, Yuu. A good life, and you ought to be grateful.”

“What life? I’m not allowed out of the house!”

“Don’t exaggerate, Yuu. You know how much I hate dramatics.”

Noya scoffed. “Oh yeah, cause putting tracers in your kid’s shoes isn’t dramatic at all.”

“You have no respect-”

“Damn right I don’t!”

“Yuu! Don’t you speak to your father like that.” His mother sighed. “We’ll continue this discussion in the morning when you’re reasonable.”

And with that, they left, and Noya flopped back onto his bed.

The next morning, Noya woke up late. He hadn’t slept that well anyway, but he didn’t want to get up and face the day. He knew he had to eventually though, so he stood up and padded softly down the hall to the dining room.

“Good morning, Yuu,” his mother said as he sat down and pulled a plate of eggs and toast toward him. “Your father had to go in to work, so it’s just us today.” Noya didn’t respond, choosing to tackle his breakfast instead. “So I’ll be the one taking you to the hospital.”

“What? Why?”

“Your father and I decided. If you won’t let us put tracers in your clothing, we’ll just have to attach one more permanently.”

Noya stood up abruptly. _“What!?”_

“Yuu!” his mother admonished, reaching over to pick up his spilled glass of orange juice. “It’s for the best. You can’t keep wandering off. If you didn’t want this, you should have listened to us in the first place.”

Noya stared at her disbelievingly. “You…you can’t be serious.”

“I’m completely serious. We’ve made an appointment for two o’clock this afternoon, so I expect you to be ready.”

“You…that…you can’t. That’s not….”

“I am your mother, and I can. Now sit down and finish your toast.”

“I’m not hungry anymore.” Noya turned on his heel and ran back to his room. He paced frantically up and down. His eyes fell on the pile of ripped clothing. They were small rips, mostly in the waistbands and hems, and even if it would look silly, he could still wear them. He glanced at the window.

_I can’t let this happen._

Mind made up, he showered, dressed, and spiked up his hair. Then he crawled under his bed and pulled out an empty backpack. It was big enough to fit a good amount of clothes and other personal effects. He started shoving things in, keeping an ear out for approaching footsteps. He had a substantial wad of cash, hopefully enough to last him a little while. He zipped up the bag and considered his potential escape routes. His window was carefully monitored since the first few times he had been caught sneaking in and out through it. The front and back doors were too far away and too watched. His mother was…probably in the conservatory at this point. Which could be a problem with all the glass walls.

His parents’ room was empty though, and it was on the opposite side of the house from the conservatory with a perfect window for sneaking out. And if he had the angles right, no one would see him approaching the front gate. It was a perfect plan.

At eleven o’clock that morning, Noya left. He didn’t look back.

 

The docks were a very complicated, very crowded place. Osiris was a big, important planet, and this was the capitol. There were all kinds of ships here, and Yuu wasn’t sure which one to take. Not an Alliance ship, obviously. They would just send him straight back home when they found him. Not a corporate ship either. They would do the same and probably ask for money. So a freelance ship, but it couldn’t be too rough. He didn’t want to be shot or anything. He made his way through the crowd, trying to look like he belonged there. He knew his size put him at a disadvantage here. People were likely to mistake him for a lost child. Which he _wasn’t._

All he had to do was find a ship and go…somewhere. He hadn’t thought that far yet, but it had to be better than “home” had been.

He passed several Alliance ships swarming with officers and tried not to look suspicious. He simply walked like he knew exactly where he was going. Once he had passed them, he slowed down and looked around. Because of that, he wasn’t looking where he was going and bumped straight into someone. The collision, combined with his backpack’s weight, sent Noya to the ground. The guy he’d run into stumbled as well.

“Sorry, kid!” he said, “Jeez, watch where you’re going. Ah, shit, don’t be scared.”

“Why would I be scared?” Noya said, annoyed, “And I’m not a kid. I’m like, the same age as you.” Looking up, he could actually see why a kid would be scared. The guy was bald and rough looking and had probably been scowling a moment before.

“Oh, whoops. You just looked really small down on the ground,” the guy said, helping him up, “…Aaand, also small standing up.”

“Shut up.”

“Hey, being short’s not bad!” the guy said quickly, “I’m Ryuu. Where are you headed?”

“You got a ship?” Noya asked, “Cause if you don’t, none of your business.”

“I’m part of the crew of _Karasuno_ ,” Ryuu said proudly, “Best ship in the ‘verse. We’ll get you where you’re going.”

“Really?”

“As long as where you’re going is Salisbury, Ezra, or Greenleaf, yeah.”

“Cool! I’m Noya.” He shook Ryuu’s hand. If Ryuu was any indicator, _Karasuno_ would probably be alright. And Salisbury, Ezra, and Greenleaf were all decent planets as far as he could remember.

“Got any more luggage?”

“Nope,” Noya said. For a second, he thought Ryuu would find that strange. Most people going on a journey by ship took more than one backpack’s worth of luggage with them. But Ryuu just laughed.

“Yeah, I guess that backpack’s got enough in it. It’s almost as big as you are.”

“So where’s this ship of yours?”

Noya liked _Karasuno_ immediately, and he hoped to stay as long as possible. The captain seemed like a good guy, if a little scary sometimes. The first mate/mechanic was super sweet, and the pilot was a big softie. The medic was an absolute angel. And of course there was Ryuu, who turned out to be awesome. Noya settled in quickly.

Salisbury, it turned out, was where Daichi, Suga, Asahi, and Kiyoko grew up together. They stayed there for a few days, visiting families and getting some extra supplies and homemade food. Noya enjoyed himself immensely once he got over the awkwardness of class differences, general strangeness, and envy. He had been careful to reveal very little about why he was leaving Osiris, but it was hard not to feel a little bitter when he watched the easy way Suga interacted with his parents.

Greenleaf was the third stop, and Noya tried to make it seem like he would get off there. He wasn’t so sure if he would though. _Karasuno_ didn’t seem like it really needed more crew, but Noya knew he could be helpful on a ship, given the chance.

The chance came about when they landed on Ezra, though Noya wished it could have come in some other, less violent way. A bunch of pirates boarded the ship while the crew was hanging around in the cargo bay. They shot Daichi (non-fatally, thank god) and were almost successful in kicking the whole crew off the ship. But they missed Noya, who had been upstairs, and Noya managed to pull off a whole rescue thing. He got shot in the arm in the process, but he still pulled it off. So it wasn’t like Daichi could actually say no when he asked for a job.

Well, he probably could have, but he didn’t _really_ want to, and besides, Suga was giving him a look.

They took him in. His job description was a little unclear, but after a few weeks, he figured out what he was there to do. He watched their backs. Someone had to.

***

Present Day

Noya paced restlessly as the ship flew on. He was trying to ignore the hard knot of dread in the pit of his stomach, but it seemed to grow heavier every minute. He was sure the others would come looking for him. But as much as he wanted to believe in their rescue abilities, he couldn’t help remembering Asahi lowering his gun as Noya was dragged away.

On some level, he knew Asahi was probably smart to stand down. But the look on his face hadn’t been someone strategically backing away. It had been defeat. Noya kicked the door, which did nothing helpful.

They were coming after him, he was sure. Part of him wished he had told them more while he could. Would they figure out what they were getting into? Did he even know what they were getting into? If Noya’s parents wanted him back this badly, he didn’t know what anyone could do to stop them. But this was _Karasuno_ , he reminded himself. This was Daichi and Suga and Asahi and Ryuu. This was Chikara, Hisashi, and Kazuhito, Shouyou, Kageyama, Tadashi, and even Tsukishima. This was Kiyoko. If anyone could do it, it was them.

***

“So, do we have a plan?”

“No.”

“Not yet,” Suga said, frowning at Tsukishima. Tsukishima shrugged. “Ukai’s getting some information for us. Apparently he and Takeda had a break-in. Nothing stolen, but they could have found out _Karasuno_ ’s destination.”

“And we think it’s his parents?” Tadashi asked uncertainly.

Suga shrugged sadly. “It’s our only theory at the moment. Noya did run away from home when he was seventeen, and from the little he’s said, it doesn’t sound like he and his parents exactly got along. Either way, Ukai and Takeda are working on getting information on them. They have a network. They’ll find out if there’s anything suspicious.”

“And in the meantime?” Ryuu asked.

“In the meantime, we’re following Noya the best we can.”

“So basically we’re waiting?” Tsukishima said, half question, half snark.

Suga frowned again. “Basically. There’s not much else we can do at the moment.”

“We could hail them,” Ryuu grumbled.

“We could,” Suga agreed, “But I don’t think it would do any good.”

Ryuu didn’t look happy about it, but he couldn’t disagree either.

***

The next time someone entered Noya’s room, it was the popsicle vendor with food. Noya glared.

“You really think I’m gonna eat anything you give me?”

The popsicle vendor shrugged. “You will if you want to eat. We’re almost two days away from Osiris.”

Noya kept glaring, but he took the tray of food anyway. “Fine. Now go away.”

Once he was alone, Noya ate. At least none of it was drugged this time as far as he could tell afterwards. When he finished, he stood up, stretched, and stuck his hand in his pocket. It closed automatically around his pocket knife. He pulled it out and flipped it a few times.

His parents weren’t…abusive, not in the physical sense, anyway. Violence was beneath them. There had been a time growing up when he really loved them, and he thought they might have loved him then too. But their love, it turned out, was conditional on Noya’s strict adherence to every rule they and society had to offer. And Noya, well, he couldn’t do that. He’d tried once. Lasted about a week being the perfect son before he’d felt like he would go crazy if he kept it up any longer. And besides, even during that week his parents had always found something to complain about.

They weren’t exactly _cruel_. They just…thought they owned him. Thought Noya was a precious commodity of theirs to be paraded for their high society friends. A child to be seen and not heard. _Their_ child, _their_ boy, _their_ son. Noya’s hand closed tightly around the pocket knife.

_I don’t belong to them. Nothing I am belongs to them._

***

“We’ve got info from Takeda!” Asahi shouted down the hall. Suga, Daichi, and Tanaka all emerged from their rooms, followed closely by Kageyama.

“What do we know?” Daichi asked, leaning over Asahi’s shoulder to look at the display.

“The Nishinoyas still need some investigating, but they’ve recently hired a security company for an elite team and a lot of equipment for their house. They’ve also been seen paying off a trio of mercenaries. The description matches the ones who took Noya.”

“So it really was them,” Suga said. Asahi nodded.

“Seems so.”

“Right, what’s this security company?”

“They’re called Date Tech.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GO GO LET'S GO
> 
> Also fun fact: Art Blog! q-loves-you-draws.tumblr.com  
> It currently has a little bit of fan art for this fic, and it will probably have more soon!


	8. How to Plan a Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which rescues are difficult, Noya's life sucks, and I finally get some pairings in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long! The weekly update thing is no longer going to happen I think, because I have now caught up to myself. But on a positive note: I now have a vague, blurry view of an actual plot! Hooray!
> 
> Also: potential trigger warning for emotional abuse/manipulation in this chapter

Noya was ready to run as soon as the ship landed, but the chance never came. The door to his room opened. He took two steps toward it before his three captors appeared. One was holding a needle.

“Oh, come on!”

“Stow it, kid. We’re not having you run off.”

“No! I hate needles!”

“Calm down, kid. You’re just making it harder for yourself. Hold him still.”

Noya watched the needle coming closer and closer to his good arm. He struggled, but there was no give to his captor’s grip. His injury throbbed with the strain he was putting on it trying to get away. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his lips together to hold in any sound. There was a tiny prick in his upper arm, and he flinched violently. He didn’t remember much after that.

***

When Noya woke up again, he was staring at a familiar ceiling. His bedroom ceiling. It took a while for the sedative to wear off completely, so he lay there miserably, waiting. Once he could sit up without the whole room tilting, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and took stock of the situation. He was in his room in his parents’ house. His vest and shoes had been removed. He checked his pockets. His knife was gone. Along with the cash he’d had on him and anything else that had been in his pockets.

“Dammit.” He sighed. He loved that knife. And he had a lot of useful stuff in his pockets. But for now, there were more pressing matters. He stood up and walked over to the window. The view looked much the same as he remembered. There were a few new sculptures standing around the garden, and the apple trees planted along the back of the property had grown.

The window itself had a new alarm system installed as well as what looked like a security camera. Noya scowled at it. As if trapping him here weren’t enough, they now had to watch him?

The door opened behind him, and he spun around. His mother was standing in the doorway.

“Yuu.”

“Mom.”

She opened her arms as if she were expecting a hug. Noya looked at her disbelievingly.

“Is that any way to greet your mother?”

“You had me drugged.”

She rolled her eyes. “Is that really the first thing we’re going to talk about?”

“You. Had. Me. Drugged.”

“Well, if you weren’t being so unreasonable, we wouldn’t have had to, would we?”

“You didn’t have to!” Noya said loudly, “You really didn’t have to! I’m twenty-one years old now, Mom! You can’t just _drug_ me and lock me up!”

“You’re our son, Yuu! And we will do what we deem best for you!”

Noya wanted to slam the door in her face or do something to express his frustration, but anything like that would be “proof” of how “unreasonable” he was being. “What’s best for me? You don’t give a damn about what’s best for me! You only care about yourselves!”

“I will not be spoken to like that!”

“Then let me go so I never have to speak to you again!”

“Yuu Nishinoya! I am your mother, and you _will_ respect me. All I want is for you to stay here, be a good boy, and do what your father and I tell you! Is that so much to ask?”

“You’re crazy. Both of you. You’re totally nuts.”

His mother sighed. “Well, then. Until you can behave civilly, you’re not leaving this room.”

“I’m an adult! You can’t do this!”

“Yes, I can.”

His mother left, closing and locking the door behind her. Noya stalked over to his bed and threw his pillow across the room with a wordless scream of frustration.

***

The crew gathered around the dining table again while Daichi reported what Takeda had told them.

“Date Tech,” Tadashi said, “Isn’t that..?”

“Yes,” Tsukishima said shortly.

“You know them?” Daichi asked.

“We’ve dealt with them before,” Tsukishima said unhelpfully.

Tadashi nodded. “They’re very good and generally discreet. I didn’t get the sense that they would participate in something like this though. Maybe they don’t know what they’re actually guarding.”

“Or maybe they’re not as morally sound or law-abiding as we thought,” Tsukishima said, “Either way, their presence is a problem for us.”

“I have a question,” Hisashi said, “Why don’t we just alert the authorities? What they’re doing is illegal, right?”

“It is,” Daichi said, “But there’s risk involved there as well. The Nishinoya family is very well connected, and we don’t know how much influence they have over local law enforcement. We might do more harm than good.”

“Okay then. What’s the plan?” Kazuhito asked, sounding like he already knew the answer and didn’t like it.

“The plan is to break Noya out ourselves.”

“Of course it is.”

“You have a better idea, Tsukishima?”

“Tch. I suppose it is the only option. But do we have a more specific plan in mind?”

“Go in guns blazing, grab Noya and run?” Ryuu suggested.

“If it comes to that,” said Daichi, “But a stealthy approach might be best, at least at first.”

“For that, we need to know what kind of security they have,” Suga said, “Kei, Tadashi, you said you know Date Tech. Do you know what kind of stuff they supply?”

“They have everything,” Tsukishima said, “Scanners, shields, cameras, guards, automated weapons systems. They’ll install fences and build walls. You name it. I would hazard a guess that they’re not going to use any automated weapons on Noya. His parents want him alive, after all.”

“Well, that’s some comfort anyway,” Chikara said, “And what can we do about the rest of it?”

“I can try to take down any shields they’ve put up,” Kageyama offered.

“I think we need to do some recon,” said Daichi, “Find out what exactly we’re up against. Suga, Tanaka, and Asahi obviously can’t go. And if they knew the name of the ship, they probably know me. Chikara, Hisashi, Kazuhito, you up for it?”

“It’s what we’re here for,” Hisashi said.

“Good. Find out what we’re dealing with. We’ll revise our strategy from there.”

***

Noya hated this. He hated the room, the house, every bit of furniture, and the view out his window. He hated his parents.

From the day he was born, Noya had always been too loud. He cried too much as a baby, yelled and talked and laughed too much as a toddler and a child. There was always something inside him, screaming to get out, and he wanted to let it. Because he was too small to be seen and too dumb to be listened to (not actually dumb, but never the kind of smart that mattered), so he had to be loud enough to be heard.

His nanny when he was seven had called him energetic. Everyone else had called him variations on “annoying.” Boisterous, rambunctious, rowdy, noisy, wild. He knew, logically, that they didn’t _have_ to mean annoying, but when they were about him, they always did.

Not that he cared. He liked being wild. He didn’t care what people thought of him. He knew who he was. It was just a problem when his parents thought that way. Not because his self-esteem was tied up with their opinions, no, not at all. But if they thought he was being too loud, they could take things away. They could take away play time and toys and friends. They could take away outings to the park or the lake. They could take away the yard, the conservatory, his playroom, and every other room in the house until he was locked in his room with nothing, no outlet, no space, no running, no shouting, no talking, nothing.

Well, almost nothing.

He had some tricks up his sleeve. He snuck in games and toys and gadgets to tinker with. He learned how to climb out the window, how to give his chauffer the slip after school and run to the park with the other kids until his parents would come, or more likely would send someone after him to drag him back, kicking and screaming.

And here he was again, kicking, screaming, and all. He had thought his last escape would be the last. But they’d found him again, and they were boxing him in more and more, compressing and squeezing and flattening the life out of him.

They’d even taken his hair gel.

He didn’t doubt for a second that they planned to implant that tracer. If they hadn’t given up on keeping him here, they wouldn’t give up on that. It was completely illegal, of course, but that hadn’t stopped them before, and it wouldn’t stop them now. Which meant he had to get out of here before they got the chance.

***

Kenji was bored.

These Nishinoya people were weirdos, and Moniwa had stationed Kenji on the front gate, meaning he wasn’t moving around much and Aone was nowhere nearby. It was probably a punishment of some kind, and to be honest, it was probably deserved. Which didn’t make it any less annoying.

He leaned back in his chair by the gate and wondered, yet again, what these people needed so much security for. He hoped it was nothing super shady. Though on the other hand that might at least alleviate some of the boredom. They were being pretty secretive about it all, simply saying that they were anticipating a break-in. Normally he was sure the higher-ups wouldn’t agree to something so non-specific, but business hadn’t been great lately, and these people were loaded. So. Here he was.

And there, across the street, was a very attractive stranger.

Flirting wasn’t allowed, Kenji knew. He had been told countless times by Moniwa, Nametsu, and even Aone. No flirting on the job. No talking to strangers on the job. But this guy was really attractive, and Kenji was bored, and if Moniwa didn’t want him talking to strangers, he shouldn’t have put him on the front gate.

“Hey,” he called across the street. They guy stopped, startled, but then he crossed the street to talk to him.

“Hi.”

“You look tired.”

The stranger was unimpressed. “I’ve been told that a lot. You look bored.”

“I am. You’re the most interesting thing that’s come this way my whole shift.”

“When did your shift start?”

“About an hour ago.”

“And no one’s passed by that whole time?”

“No one who looked interesting enough to risk my boss catching me talking. ‘Til now.”

“So you’re not supposed to be talking to me?”

“Well, my boss oughta know better than to station me here if he doesn’t want me to talk to strangers.” He stuck out his hand, struck by an unexpected burst of manners. “I’m Kenji.”

“Chikara.” They shook hands. “No longer strangers.”

“You from around here?” Kenji asked.

Chikara shook his head. “Visiting family,” he said.

“Really? Then why’re you out here on your own?”

Chikara gave him a flat look. “Have you ever visited distant relatives?”

“Fair enough.”

“And you?” Chikara asked, “How come your boss put you here if you’re not supposed to talk to people?”

Kenji shrugged. “He thinks I won’t, I guess. So it’s punishment. If no one talks to me, it’s pretty damn boring.” He leaned back in his chair.

“Isn’t all security work pretty boring?”

“At least if I were inside I could walk around, maybe bother my coworkers. Ah, but I probably shouldn’t be discussing work with you. It’s all very hush-hush, and hot as you are, I can’t risk my job just now.”

Chikara turned slightly pink, but only slightly. “Well, I couldn’t ask you to risk your job. What time do you get off?”

 _Score. Score score score._ “Eight o’clock if my boss doesn’t catch me talking.”

“And if he does?” Chikara was clearly trying not to laugh at him. Not trying very hard.

“If he does, he’ll make me deal with our clients or some special hell like that, and who knows when that would end. But give me half an hour to change and stuff, and I’ll meet you here at eight thirty.”

Chikara smiled. “I’ll be here at eight. Don’t worry about changing.” He glanced at Kenji’s (extremely flattering, thank you) uniform with what Kenji interpreted as appreciation.

_Fuck. Yes._

***

Chikara caught up to Hisashi and Kazuhito a few minutes later. Hisashi clicked his tongue impatiently. “You’re late.”

“Only by a couple minutes. Sorry. I was busy finding out when the guard on the front gate switches. And some other stuff.”

“Oh my god,” Hisashi said, staring at him, “Did you just seduce a guard?”

“No!” Chikara said quickly, “Well, maybe, actually. But he started it!”

“You are unbelievable.”

“He gets off at eight, and I’m meeting him then. I can cause a distraction while someone sneaks in or something. Or I get a hot date for tonight. Also, there are definitely multiple guards inside, and it sounds like they patrol. But I don’t think they know what they’re guarding or like their clients. At least Kenji doesn’t.”

“Kenji,” Kazuhito said flatly.

“Yes, Kenji. The bored, flirty guard who looks really great in a uniform. I think he knows it too. Who knows? Maybe if the date goes well…”

“Ok, please stop now,” Kazuhito said, and Chikara grinned.

“What, you don’t like hearing about my love life?”

“No!”

“So maybe next time I won’t have to _actually hear_ yours?”

“…Oh.” Kazuhito and Hisashi looked at him sheepishly.

“Yeah. Give a guy some warning or do some soundproofing. But I’ll let it slide for now. We have more important things to worry about.”

***

“The way I see it,” Daichi said, “We have two options. Wait for Chikara to try to weasel more information out of his date…”

“No guarantee of success or usefulness, possibility of being caught, waste of potentially important time, poor form,” Tsukishima said.

“…Or we can use the information we have tonight, sneak in while Chikara distracts the guards on the front gate, and hope there aren’t any nasty surprises.”

“Risky in every possible way, and we’d need a plan developed in the next four hours,” Tsukishima said.

“We’d best get to work then,” Tanaka said, glaring at Tsukishima, “We’re not leaving Noya any longer than we have to.”

“Agreed,” said Daichi, “So, let’s get planning.”

***

 _Phase One of Incredibly Well-Thought-Out Rescue Plan_ , Chikara thought as he walked down the road to the Nishinoya house. Mansion. Fuckin’ castle as far as Chikara was concerned. No wonder Noya always seemed a little weird about stuff like money. He obviously came from a lot of it. At least Chikara’s role in Plan-That-Was-Definitely-Going-to-Work was fairly simple and also involved a date. Once he’d done his part, it was all up to the others. Which was fine. They could probably handle it. Definitely. They would be fine.

He ran a hand through his hair and tugged at his shirt. He hadn’t dressed up, seeing as Kenji would presumably be in uniform still, but he’d put on a nice button-down over his t-shirt and combed his hair again more carefully. Worried or not (definitely worried), he was on a date.

“Hey,” he said once he reached the gate and Kenji. And some other guy, presumably there to take over Kenji’s post.

“Hi,” Kenji said. The other guy didn’t say anything, just nodded. He was huge, very intimidating, and had no eyebrows. Chikara really hoped the others knew what they were doing.

***

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”

“Of course I do!” Shouyou said indignantly.

“Then why do you look like you’re about to vomit?”

“I’ll be fine! What about _you_? Are you sure you can pull this off?”

“It’s not that hard. It’s different from what I usually work with, but if you can get me in, I can do my part.”

“What do you mean ‘if?’ I’m just distracting the guy and running! Of course I can do that!”

“We have to get the timing exactly right, dumbass. If we don’t, we’re all screwed. You most of all.” Kageyama frowned. “We should have had Ryuunosuke do this.”

Shouyou seethed. “I know what I’m doing! And besides, you’re a genius and stuff, so you can time it just fine!”

He had meant that to sound angrier.

***

Asahi fidgeted while Suga triple-checked his kit. He wasn’t sure when breaking and entering had become his specialty, but it was certainly coming in handy now.

“You okay?” he asked Asahi. Asahi shrugged. “We’ll get him back,” Suga said, projecting as much confidence as he could with such a shaky plan. “You know we’ll get him back, right?”

“Yes. It’s just…I let him go, Suga. I gave up on him. It was only for a minute, but I gave up. Sometimes it seems like every time I go out on a job, it ends up going south. Maybe Daichi should be the one going in this time.”

Suga straightened up, ready. “Nope. You’re the man for this job, Asahi. We need Daichi on back-up. And besides, you’re arguably better in hand-to-hand combat, which is what we’re expecting if it comes to that, and you’re bigger and probably more intimidating.”

“That’s a lot of uncertainty, Suga.”

“Well I’m pretty certain you’re the person Noya wants to see most right now,” Suga said seriously, “So think about that, and let’s get going.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise next chapter will see more action, but I felt the need to establish some of this stuff first. You can blame memorde for getting me into Ennofuta or whatever you call it. They're beautiful dorks and I love them. That actually goes for everyone.


	9. The Iron Wall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear Noya's one of my favorites...

Chikara was very grateful that Kenji and Aone were good friends. It made keeping their attention focused on him instead of the figure creeping closer along the wall a little easier. He kept up the small talk until Tobio was hidden in the closest gap between hedges. Then he and Kenji took their leave. _Get Tobio close enough to the gate._ It was all up to the others now.

***

Aone was happy for Kenji. He deserved a nice date, even if he wasn’t supposed to have talked to the guy in the first place. Aone didn’t have that problem. He preferred not talking to people most of the time, and it wasn’t like anyone would come talk to him anyway, particularly if he were on duty. Kenji said it was because he was too scary. He turned his attention back to his job.

Here was another way he and Kenji were different. Aone liked this job. Kenji didn’t hate it exactly, but he got bored easily and really only did it to pay the bills. Aone liked the quiet times, and he liked the feeling that he was doing something worthwhile. Protecting things.

He heard fast footsteps to his right, and seconds later a short young man with bright orange hair was halfway up the wall. He pressed a finger to the comm in his ear. “Intruder by the front gate. Trying to climb the wall. I’m on it.” The young man was struggling to gain any height, and Aone was halfway to him when he fell, swore, saw Aone, swore again, and took off running.

“Everybody be alert, there could be more,” Moniwa was saying in his ear, “Aone, do you need back-up?”

“No.” He took off after the failed intruder.

***

Tobio waited until Shouyou was a good distance down the road before stepping out of his hiding place and running to the gate. With a bit of help from Suga through the comms, he unlocked it and slipped inside.

“Ok, great. Controls should be to your left once you’re in. Be careful!”

Quickly and quietly, Tobio made his way to the control station. He had no idea why they would have the control station out here instead of somewhere more protected if these people were supposed to be so good, but he wasn’t going to question it too much. It took only a few moments to open the door, and he stepped inside quickly, startling the man at the controls.

Right, this part.

He grabbed the man, who was much smaller than he was, before he could sound the alarm. Then he pulled the chloroformed rag out of one of his pockets and pressed it against his face, a task made difficult by the man’s continued struggles.

“Sorry,” Tobio whispered, though the man didn’t seem to appreciate the apology as he passed out.

He lowered the man carefully to the ground and turned back to the controls.

***

The nearest guard was just passing out of earshot, which would be a perfect time for the door to open. A few seconds later, it did. Suga and Asahi slipped inside silently.

“This isn’t exactly mechanics, you know,” Tobio said in Suga’s ear, “It’s electronics. I’m not as good with electronics.”

“You’re doing fine,” Suga whispered, “Are the sensors down?”

“…Yeah.”

“Okay. Keep watch for us, and see if you can find out where Noya is. Or any useful information at all.”

They reached the back door with no trouble and Suga had it open in about a minute.

“There are two guards inside,” said Tobio, “But I’m not sure where. Noya is probably on the second floor.”

Suga was just thinking that things were going far too smoothly when he and Asahi reached the top of the stairs, turned right, and came face-to-face with a tall, reasonably muscular man in a security uniform.

“Shit.”

“HEY!”

Daichi or Ryuu would have been very good for this situation, but Asahi was there, and he could do it. Noya was just on the other side of one of these doors, and Asahi could fight off this one guy long enough for Suga to get him out.

He could fight off one guy. Unfortunately, the guard’s shout had brought another one. At the same time, Noya’s voice came from the door straight ahead.

“Hey! Get me out of here! Who’s there? Suga?”

“Noya!” Suga moved toward the door, but he was caught and thrown back by the second guard. He landed heavily on his ass, and struggled to his feet in time to be grabbed again from behind. He kicked backwards hard, and his foot found the guard’s shin. His hold loosened enough for Suga to take a few steps toward Noya, but then he was being dragged back again. “Asahi!”

But Asahi was having his own difficulties. A third guard had joined the fray while Suga was distracted, and they were working together to hold Asahi back.

“Noya!”

Something slammed into the door from Noya’s side. Probably Noya himself. “Asahi!? Suga! God fucking dammit this fucking door!”

The guard holding Suga back paused. “What…?”

“STOP.”

***

Shouyou was very, very fast and could run for a very long time. Unfortunately, the guard behind him was also fast and much bigger than he was. Shouyou could probably outrun him eventually, but that assumed he had long enough to run and didn’t do something like – 

“WAA!”

-trip. Dammit.

By the time he was on his feet, the guard had caught up with him and looked about ready to tackle him to the ground.

“Waitwaitwait! I just wanna save my friend, okay!?” He hadn’t expected that to have any effect on the giant man standing over him, but he paused, one hand firmly around Shouyou’s arm to stop him running off and looked at him questioningly.

“Well…uh…the people you’re working for, their son is on our crew, but they drugged him and dragged him back here for some reason, and now we’re trying to rescue him ‘cause they can’t just do that! So…your job is kinda illegal right now. I think. Right?”

The guard nodded after a few more seconds of staring. Then he turned away to listen to something through his comm. Shouyou could only catch snippets, but it didn’t sound very good for Suga and Asahi.

“Two…intruders…hou-!”

“…the hell…Sakunami!”

Shouyou grabbed the guard’s arm. “I swear we just wanna save our friend! Can’t you call them off or something?”

The guard shook his head, but he was frowning thoughtfully. “Not my authority,” he said finally, “But I’ll try to help.”

They ran back to the house together, through the front gate, up the long driveway, inside, and up the stairs.

“STOP.”

Everybody froze at the guard’s voice. Suga recovered first and pulled himself free of the guard who had been holding him.

“Aone?”

Aone looked to Shouyou, and Shouyou stepped forward nervously.

“Shouyou, are you okay?” Suga asked immediately.

“I’m fine!” he said quickly, “And I, uh, well I just explained to Aone that we’re here for Noya and that his parents drugged and kidnapped him, and I’m pretty sure keeping him here against his will is illegal, so they should just let us take him and go and probably report this to the feds or something?”

The other two guards released their hold on Asahi.

“Wait, what?”

“Are you serious? I knew I didn’t like these people.”

“Moniwa, are you hearing this?”

There was a pause while someone spoke in a frantic voice over their comms. “Right, he’ll be here in a bit to sort this out with our employers. In the meantime, let’s all just wait quietly so we can be sure you’re not trying to trick us into something.”

Ok, that was pretty reasonable, Shouyou thought, but at the same time he really didn’t want to meet Noya’s parents or run the risk of being disbelieved. Before he could object, there was a loud banging from the door in front of him.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE? ARE YOU RESCUING ME OR NOT?”

“Kamasaki, I think they’re telling the truth,” the guard by Suga said as if it weren’t glaringly obvious.

Kamasaki glowered at him. “No shit, Sasaya.”

***

“You seem a bit distracted,” Kenji said as he paid for their meal. The only gentlemanly thing he’d done all night, not that Chikara minded. It was just another thing to tease him for. Teasing Kenji was fun.

_Yeah, I’m nervous because my friends are attempting a break-in at the house you were guarding to rescue my other friend, and I have no idea how that’s going. It’s not you, it’s your job?_

None of that really seemed like the right thing to say. “Well, I’m trying to figure out if you’ll ask me back to your place or not, since I can’t ask you back to mine.” Wow, he just said that. It wasn’t exactly untrue, but it was more forward than he’d expected to be.

Kenji gave a short, surprised laugh that made people turn to look at them. Loud, irreverent, fun to tease, complete asshole. Oh boy. And now he was blushing. Chikara had no idea he was that smooth. Or maybe Kenji was just that easy to fluster. “Well, my roommate got the night shift, so we would have my apartment to ourselves until morning.”

“Is that an invite?” It had been way too long since he’d been on a date, and Kenji was ridiculous, but he was also the best date he’d had. Ever.

“Yeah, it’s an invite.”

***

Noya looked exhausted and furious, which was a dangerous combination. His hair was lying flat, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

“Thanks for coming,” he said to Suga and Asahi, “And you, Shouyou, but also what are you doing here?”

“I’m part of the crew too!” Shouyou exclaimed, and Suga did his best not to sigh.

“Cool! Alright,” Noya said, addressing the four guards, “You guys are all stupid as fuck for taking a job from my parents, but whatever. You stopped now. Any idea where they put my stuff?”

“No. And just so you know, we don’t exactly pick the jobs.”

“Whatever. I just want to get my stuff and get out of here.”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

Every head turned to face the newcomer, who could only be Noya’s father. He was taller than Suga, not that that was saying so much, and sturdily built, but he was way less intimidating than any of the other men there. Noya glared up at him defiantly, but there was the slightest tremble in his fingers that betrayed his fear. Suga turned his own glare on Noya’s father, anger more powerful than he’d felt in a long time bubbling up at the man who had made Noya afraid.

“I’m leaving. Don’t ever send anyone after me again. I’m not yours.”

Noya’s father advanced, looking furious. “After everything we’ve-”

He was cut off by Asahi’s fist slamming into his head, and he fell to the floor unconscious. Asahi squeaked and backed away immediately. “Sorry! I just…he was coming at you.”

Noya stood there in shock for a moment before laughing and hugging Asahi tightly. “Thanks,” he said quietly, “I thought you’d given up.”

“Of course not,” Asahi wheezed, “Though I might pass out if you keep hugging me.”

Noya laughed again and released him. “You know what? Let’s just get out of here. Forget the stuff.”

“Suga? Is everything okay? What’s going on? Did you find him? Where are you? Where’s Shouyou?” Daichi sounded nervous, and Suga realized that they’d missed their check-in.

“We’re fine, Daichi! Noya’s here, so is Shouyou, we’ve won over the guards, and we’re leaving now.”

“Thank God. Check in with Kageyama too. See you soon.”

“See you soon.”

***

The shuttle was waiting about half a mile away. Ryuu wished they had landed closer, or that he had gone in with them instead of waiting around as back-up. Suga had assured them that everyone was fine, but he wanted to see it with his own eyes. But it didn’t take too long before the five of them returned, exhausted and in some cases a little bruised, but otherwise apparently unharmed.

“RYUU!” Noya broke into a sprint as he approached and launched himself at Ryuu with a happy shout. Ryuu caught him, and they clung to each other for a few moments while the others shared similar though less athletic expressions of relief. Daichi slapped Nishinoya on the back.

“Glad you’re back safe,” he said.

“Really fuckin’ glad to be back,” Noya replied, grinning. He wriggled out of Ryuu’s arms and moved on to hug Shouyou. They took off back to the ship amid loud celebrations and more hugs than were probably necessary. Noya looked cheerful enough at first, but Ryuu couldn’t help noticing the dark circles under his eyes, the way he favored his left arm, and the smiles that slid off his face between conversations. Still, he wasn’t about to bring it up now when they were all celebrating. He waited until they got back to the ship, until Noya had been welcomed back by Kiyoko and Tadashi and acknowledged briefly by Tsukishima. Then he waited while Kiyoko checked Noya over for injuries and gave him more painkillers for his shoulder.

Finally, Noya went back to his room to rest, and Ryuu followed.

“Hey, Ryuu, I really don’t need a guard, you know. Kinda doubt anyone’s getting onto this ship until Chikara comes back in the morning.”

Ryuu shrugged. “Not trying to be a guard, just thought you might want some company.”

“Sure! Great! If you want, I mean. I’m probably just gonna go to bed. Long day, you know?”

“Yeah, long week. With the kidnapping and the rescuing and all that.”

“Uh-huh! Left me pretty exhausted! I think I’m gonna pass out right now, in fact! Good night!” Noya flopped face-first onto the bed. Ryuu waited a few seconds. “That wasn’t very convincing was it,” Noya muttered into his pillow.

“Not at all. C’mon, talk to me. What’s the deal with your parents?”

Noya sighed and sat up. “It’s not…not as bad as it seems? Like, it’s still pretty fuckin’ bad.” His hands curled into fists around the blankets. “Right. So, basically they think they own me, they’ve always thought they owned me. When I was a kid, they locked me up and shit to make me “behave” and when that still didn’t work they put tracers in my clothes! And when I ripped those out they were gonna implant one in my arm or something, so I ran away and found you guys, but they found me, and then they drugged me and dragged me back, and they were probably going to try the tracer thing again, but you guys rescued me so they didn’t get the chance!”

Ryuu tried not to stare too much. “Your parents are fucked up, Noya.”

“YES, THEY FUCKING ARE!” Noya threw his pillow across the room. The outburst wasn’t totally unexpected, but Ryuu still flinched a bit at the force of it. There was a beat of silence where it looked like Noya was teetering between punching something and collapsing. Before he could do either, Ryuu sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug.

“They _don’t_ own you, you know. And they’re _never_ going to get that tracer. They’re never coming near you again.”

Noya nodded, his face pressed against Ryuu’s shoulder. He was breathing heavily, trying not to lash out again. “They got so mad when I dyed my hair,” he said finally, “That was about two months before I ran away. They locked me in my room for a week except for school. And the times when I snuck out the window. And one time when I was twelve, I got in a fight with one of their friends’ kids ‘cause he said I was stupid. They made me apologize, and then they kept me inside the house for a month.” He took a deep breath. “And when I was fifteen I tried being good for like a week. I really, really tried, Ryuu. I did my homework, and I didn’t sneak out, and I did whatever they asked me to and didn’t talk back, and it drove me crazy, but I still wasn’t enough for them.” The place where his head was resting on Ryuu’s shirt was growing damp. Then he said in a tinier voice than Ryuu had ever heard from him, “Why wasn’t I ever enough?”

Noya shook his head roughly as soon as he’d said it. “No. I…I know they were wrong. I know I’m good. They don’t matter. But…fuck, Ryuu, I was their son, and I really fucking wanted them to love me.”

Ryuu tightened his arms around Noya. “You’re enough for us, Noya.”

They stayed like that on the bed until Noya’s breathing evened out into sleep. Ryuu got up then and arranged Noya into something more like a comfortable sleeping position, though he knew he would be sprawled all over the place by morning. Then he settled himself into the armchair by the opposite wall and fell asleep too.

***

Kenji woke up with Chikara beside him to the sound of Aone knocking on his bedroom door. The two of them hurriedly pulled on clothes, and Kenji opened the door. Aone stood there, looking unsurprised and unfazed by Chikara’s presence.

“Hey, Aone, what’s up? It’s…I dunno, early.”

Aone nodded. “We need new jobs,” he said shortly.

“Wait, what?” Kenji said.

Aone nodded again. “We all quit. The Nishinoyas were bad.”

“Bad _how_ , Aone?” His friend’s quiet disposition was usually nice for Kenji, who could fill any silence if necessary, but he needed Aone to use his words now.

“They…” Kenji spun around to face Chikara. Chikara, who was looking guilty and hesitant. “They kidnapped our friend. Or whatever the proper term is when he’s an adult. That’s what the security was for.”

Kenji gaped at him. He was not used to being speechless, but it was early as fuck and Aone just told him he’d quit, and Chikara was…Chikara knew….

“You…What the…why…?”

Aone left with a vague gesture towards the kitchen, but Kenji ignored him in favor of continuing to stare at Chikara.

“Chikara…is that what last night was? You seducing the guard to…shit, it’s not even like you’re the bad guys, but…you _used me_.”

Chikara’s eyes widened. “That wasn’t…I mean, yes, I was distracting you when I picked you up, but that wasn’t the _point_. It’s not like I went there looking to seduce the guard, but you started flirting, and you were all attractive and fun, and I _like_ you, Kenji. I swear, I didn’t-”

“Shut up!” Kenji turned away, pressing his hands against his eyes, which were absolutely _not_ tearing up over this guy he had only known for a day. “Damn it, you…you make it sound so fucking reasonable, but it’s _not_. You _lied_. You could have said _something_.”

“I am saying something. Kenji, I-”

“Just get out. Just…just go.” Kenji couldn’t deal with this. They’d had such a good time, and now….

Chikara stood up and gathered up his stray clothes. “I’m sorry, Kenji. For what it’s worth…I had a really good time with you.”

Kenji didn’t respond, and Chikara left.

***

“Those criminals broke into our house and _stole_ our son. I want them brought to justice.”

“Based on our reports from the security guards you employed, you were holding your son against his will with intent to force unwanted and illegal medical procedures on him. So, we’re placing you under arrest.”

The second officer grinned. “Guess you should’ve stuck with the local feds. They’re a lot easier to pay off.”

The commander looked surprised. “The police in Capitol City are being paid off? You should have reported that.”

“Oh, sweet, innocent commander. It’s _been_ reported.”

Before the commander could make any response to that, Mr. Nishinoya interrupted. “How dare you? We-”

“Oh, shut up,” said the third officer in the room, “You’re under arrest. I suppose we ought to look into these ‘criminals’ too?”

The Nishinoyas were led away by two more officers.

“We’ll file a report. But this whole thing is a distraction. We have our assignments.”

“Yeah, our dead, boring, not-a-lead-to-be-found assignments.”

“One or the other of them will show up soon. _Seijoh_ never stays quiet for long.”

“Yes,” the commander mused, “Captain Oikawa has a talent for causing trouble.”

The second officer scoffed. “Captain Oikawa has many, many talents. He’s wasting them running around with his mess of a crew in his mess of a ship.”

“Yes,” the commander agreed, “He should have joined the Alliance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun duuuuuun!


End file.
